Dale speculatively ignored cup ties (6)
I believe the answer is:
valley
'dale' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
I don't understand the remainder of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for valley that I've seen before include "Vale" , "Flat area among hills" , "in victory with large marble" , "Depression between ranges of hills" , "one depressed" .)