Gerald Ryan’s in-form Summer Cup winner Red Excitement is an early headliner among the Gosford Cup 2017 nominations taken for Friday’s feature race.

Summer Cup winner Red Excitement chases more success in Friday’s Gosford Gold Cup 2017. Photo: Steve Hart.

Early entries for this season’s $150,000 Listed Gosford Gold Cup (2100m) attracted just seven hopefuls with Racing NSW extending nominations until 11am on Tuesday morning.

Of the current stayers in the Gosford Gold Cup mix, Ryan’s Excites seven-year-old Red Excitement shapes up as a likely favourite in markets at Ladbrokes.com.au.

He hasn’t finished out of the money in his latest four runs including the smart three length victory under 57kg on Boxing Day at Royal Randwick in the Group 3 Summer Cup (2000m).

Red Excitement has lined-up at the Gosford track twice before including a win in 2012, but returns to the course for the first time since 2013.

Two other last-start winners also feature in the original Gosford Gold Cup nominations with the Joe Pride-trained Destiny’s Kiss and Sense Of Occasion for Newcastle’s Kris Lees.

Eight-year-old Destiny’s Kiss ran sixth in the Summer Cup behind Red Excitement after the Power Of Destiny gelding took out the Listed Christmas Cup (2400m) over the mile and a half at the track the run before.

Last time out on January, also at Randwick, Destiny’s Kiss returned to winning form when stepping back up to 2400m in the Listed Tattersall’s Cup.

Sense Of Occasion is also a last start Royal Randwick winner, the six-year-old son of Street Sense having taken out the lucrative Group 2 Villiers Stakes (1600m) over a mile on December 17.

He has winning form up to 2400m also and is a Group 1 performer so the extra distance on Friday in the Gosford Cup doesn’t present as an issue.

Sydney’s best Chris Waller meanwhile has two Gosford Cup nominees this summer with Index Linked and Loophole.

Veteran nine-year-old Index Linked comes off a last start second to Destiny’s Kiss in the Tattersall’s Cup, while stablemate Loophole is out to atone for a last start eighth at Flemington over 2000m on New Year’s Day.

Rounding out the Gosford Cup nominations for 2017 are the David Payne-trained Foreign Prince and Malice for Godolphin’s head trainer John O’Shea.

Foreign Prince was the next best past the post in the Summer Cup results from December 26 when a distant second to Red Excitement in the Group 3, while Malice finished fourth in the same lead-up.

Before the Summer Cup, Teofilo six-year-old Malice enjoyed a Rosehill win in early December taking out the Listed ATC Cup (2000m).

Check out the current Gosford Gold Cup 2017 nominations below, the final acceptances out on Wednesday followed by betting at our number one recommended bookie Ladbrokes.com.au.

2017 Gosford Gold Cup Nominations

*Extended until 11:00am 10/01/2017

Gosford Racecourse – 13/01/2017