Scottish Grand National on:
[Wikipedia]
[Google]
[Amazon]
The Scottish Grand National is a Grade 3
National Hunt
In horse racing in the United Kingdom, France and Republic of Ireland, National Hunt racing requires horses to jump fences and ditches. National Hunt racing in the UK is informally known as "jumps" and is divided into two major distinct branches: ...
steeplechase in Great Britain which is open to
horses aged five years or older. It is run at
Ayr
Ayr (; sco, Ayr; gd, Inbhir Àir, "Mouth of the River Ayr") is a town situated on the southwest coast of Scotland. It is the administrative centre of the South Ayrshire Subdivisions of Scotland, council area and the historic Shires of Scotlan ...
,
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...
, over a distance of about 4 miles (3 miles 7 furlongs and 176 yards, or 6,397 metres) and during its running there are 27 fences to be jumped. It is a
handicap race, and takes place each year in April.
It is Scotland's equivalent of the
Grand National
The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap st ...
, and is held during Ayr's two-day Scottish Grand National Festival meeting.
History
The race, then known as the "West of Scotland Grand National", was first run at a course near
Houston, Renfrewshire in 1858.
It consisted of 32 jumps, mainly stone walls.
[
In 1867, after objections by the leader of the Free Kirk in Houston,][ the race moved to Bogside Racecourse, near Irvine. The inaugural winner at Bogside, The Elk, was owned by the Duke of Hamilton. During the early part of its history the race's distance was about three miles. It was later extended to 3⅞ miles, and became known by its present title in 1880, when it was won by Peacock.]Aintree
Aintree is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. Historically in Lancashire, it lies between Walton and Maghull on the A59 road, north-east of Liverpool city centre, in North West England.
I ...
. The first to complete the double was Music Hall, the winner of the 1922 Grand National
The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap st ...
. The feat has been achieved more recently by Little Polveir and Earth Summit
The United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED), also known as the Rio Conference or the Earth Summit (Portuguese: ECO92), was a major United Nations conference held in Rio de Janeiro from June 3 to June 14, 1992.
Earth Su ...
, but the only horse to win both races in the same year was Red Rum
Red Rum (3 May 1965 – 18 October 1995) was a champion Thoroughbred steeplechaser. He achieved an unmatched historic treble when he won the Grand National in 1973, 1974 and 1977, and also came second in the two intervening years, 1975 ...
in 1974.
In 2021, the race was moved to a Sunday due to the funeral of Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh, taking place on Saturday
Prize money
The winning horse in 1867 won £100, increasing to £440 by 1906, £1030 in 1950, £5,436 in 1963 and £122,433 in 2019.[
]
Television coverage
The first television coverage of the Scottish National was in 1953 on the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
. It was also shown the following year, but then wasn't screened again until 1969 on
ITV and has been shown live ever since. Coverage moved to Channel 4 in 1986 and back to ITV in 2017.
Records
Most successful horse (3 wins):
* Couvrefeu II – ''1911, 1912, 1913''
* Southern Hero – ''1934, 1936, 1939''
* Queen's Taste – ''1953, 1954, 1956''
Leading jockey
*All-time (4 wins)
**
Charlie Cunningham
Charlie Cunningham (born August 23, 1948) is a mountain biker from Fairfax, California.
Along with frame builder Steve Potts and his helper Mark Slate, Cunningham co-founded Wilderness Trail Bikes (WTB). Cunningham and Potts were forced out ...
– ''Bellman (1881), Wild Meadow (1885), Orcadian (1887), Deloraine (1889)''
[
*At Ayr (3 wins)
** Mark Dwyer – ''Androma (1984, 1985), Moorcroft Boy (1996)''
Leading trainer
*All-time (5 wins)
**Neville Crump – ''Wot No Sun (1949), Merryman II (1959), Arcturus (1968), Salkeld (1980), Canton (1983)''
** Ken Oliver – ''Pappageno's Cottage (1963), The Spaniard (1970), Young Ash Leaf (1971), Fighting Fit (1979), Cockle Strand (1982)''
*At Ayr (4 wins)
**Ken Oliver – ''The Spaniard (1970), Young Ash Leaf (1971), Fighting Fit (1979), Cockle Strand (1982)''
]
Winners at Ayr
* ''Weights given in
stone
In geology, rock (or stone) is any naturally occurring solid mass or aggregate of minerals or mineraloid matter. It is categorized by the minerals included, its Chemical compound, chemical composition, and the way in which it is formed. Rocks ...
s and
pounds''
Winners at Bogside
Earlier winners
* 1867 – The Elk
* 1868 – Greenland
* 1869 – Huntsman
* 1870 – Snowstorm
* 1871 – Keystone
* 1872 – Cinna
* 1873 – Hybla
* 1874 – Ouragon II
* 1875 – Solicitor
* 1876 – Earl Marshal
* 1877 – Solicitor
* 1878 – ''no race''
* 1879 – Militant
* 1880 – Peacock
* 1881 – Bellman
* 1882 – Gunboat
* 1883 – Kerclaw
* 1884 – The Peer
* 1885 – Wild Meadow
* 1886 – Crossbow
* 1887 – Orcadian
* 1888 – Ireland
* 1889 – Deloraine
* 1890 – ''no race''
* 1891 – ''see note below''
* 1892 – Lizzie
* 1893 – Lady Ellen II
* 1894 – Leybourne
* 1895 – Nepcote
* 1896 – Cadlaw Cairn
* 1897 – Modest Friar
* 1898 – Trade Mark
* 1899 – Tyrolean
* 1900 – Dorothy Vane
* 1901 – Big Busbie
* 1902 – Canter Home
* 1903 – Chit Chat
* 1904 – Innismacsaint
* 1905 – Theodocian
* 1906 – Creolin
* 1907 – Barney III
* 1908 – Atrato
* 1909 – Mount Prospect's Fortune
* 1910 – The Duffrey
* 1911 – Couvrefeu II
* 1912 – Couvrefeu II
* 1913 – Couvrefeu II
* 1914 – Scrabee
* 1915 – Templedowney
* 1916 – ''no race''
* 1917 – ''no race''
* 1918 – ''no race''
* 1919 – The Turk
* 1920 – Music Hall
* 1921 – ''no race''
* 1922 – Sergeant Murphy
* 1923 – Harrismith
* 1924 – Royal Chancellor
* 1925 – Gerald L.
* 1926 – Estuna
* 1927 – Estuna
* 1928 – Ardeen
* 1929 – Donzelon
* 1930 – Drintyre
* 1931 – Annandale
* 1932 – Clydesdale
* 1933 – Libourg
* 1934 – Southern Hero
* 1935 – Kellsboro' Jack
* 1936 – Southern Hero
* 1937 – Right'un
* 1938 – Young Mischief
* 1939 – Southern Hero
* 1940–46 – ''no race''
See also
*
Horse racing in Scotland
*
List of British National Hunt races
A list of notable National Hunt horse races which take place annually in Great Britain, under the authority of the British Horseracing Authority, including all races which currently hold Grade 1, 2 or 3 status.
History of the National Hunt Patter ...
Sources
*
References
*
Racing Post:
** , , , , , , , , ,
** , , , , , , , , ,
** , , , , , , , , ,
** , ,
* {{cite book, title=Timeform Chasers & Hurdlers Statistical Companion 1992–93, year=1993, publisher=Portway Press, page=172-173
External links
pedigreequery.com– ''Scottish Grand National Handicap Chase – Ayr.''
– ''Racenews Archive (12 April 2002).''
– ''Scottish Grand National.''
* Race Recording
National Hunt races in Great Britain
Ayr Racecourse
National Hunt chases
Horse racing in Scotland
Recurring sporting events established in 1867
1867 establishments in Scotland
Sports competitions in Scotland