Whoever emerges from the present clouds of rumour to become the next owner of Ayr racecourse should immediately recognise the staggering achievements of David Nicholls in its most famous Flat race. Perhaps a bar called Dandy's, where the trainer could relate how his fifth Ayr Gold Cup win in nine years finally gave him closure on two of the great regrets of his career.

One dates back six years, to the lowly Catterick claimer when he lost a horse to a group of owners from Aberdeen. He was called The Tatling and he transformed the fortunes of his next trainer, Milton Bradley. Saturday's hero, Regal Parade, was owned by the same trio, fulfilling a promise to have another horse with a man who “never bore a grudge”.

But in sending out both first and second on Saturday, Nicholls also purged a different, nagging anxiety, after his domination of this iconic Scottish prize was disrupted in 2006 by an administrative calamity that still causes him cold sweats today.

Nicholls customarily enters half his stable strength for this strangely captivating handicap, so it is easy to imagine his horror when he missed the early closing deadline. “It was five o'clock in the morning when I realised, and it's one of the worst feelings I've ever had,” he recalled.

“I went into the office to check before I told Alex [his wife]. She went white as a sheet and we then had to ring all the owners and break the news. For me, it doesn't get any worse than that. This race has been in my blood since I was a kid and I used to lead up horses here as an apprentice. I love the buzz and atmosphere of it all and I'd rather win it than almost anything else.”

In 2002, when Nicholls made a spot of history by winning it for the third time in succession, The Tatling was second to Funfair Wane. Runner-up was as close as his former charge came at Ayr but he fulfilled his owners' dreams elsewhere. Saturday was payback time. “Life is just a roundabout, isn't it?” Nicholls said. “So long as you stay on the road, things will come right.”

Danny Cowie, speaking for the Dab Hand Racing partnership, told how he had personally booked William Carson for the ride, and suspected his trainer had never heard of him. Carson is the 19-year-old grandson of Willie Carson, five-times champion jockey and one of racing's most famous Scots. Willie, however, never did win the Ayr Gold Cup, nor came to recognise its resonance as Nicholls has done.

Ayr is not a pretty place and its racecourse was until recently the ugly sister among Scotland's otherwise seductive venues. It came alive twice a year, on Gold Cup and Scottish National days, and was at other times a deterringly drab place with areas that would have given a 1960s bus station a bad name.

This began to change five years ago, when the course was bought for £10 million by two Ayrshire businessmen, Alan Macdonald and Richard Johnstone. Despite suspicions that property opportunities were their prime motivation, they ploughed another £14 million into improvements.

Though still far from perfect, Ayr now has an infrastrusture more appropriate to its status, which is why it was an almighty shock in these parts when Macdonald and Johnstone put the racecourse and its adjoining hotel on the market.

Speculation is in overdrive, the whispers even extending to an Arab takeover. The facts were outlined by Johnstone, who explained that they are retaining a tranche of land with planning permission for housing but looking to sell the course and hotel to a single buyer.

“The truth is that the economic climate has gone against us and we couldn't plan for that,” Johnstone said. “Our hope is that someone will take it on who doesn't need loans, someone who can continue the investment.”

Up to a dozen companies - including Arena Leisure - have expressed interest but much more will be known when initial bids are closed on October 13. After emerging from its dark days, Ayr deserves another caring owner. Especially one that will immortalise Dandy Nicholls.