This detailed article will help you learn about the trainers and riders who have had great results in the Scottish Grand National. Held annually at Ayr racetrack, the race covers a total track length of 4 miles. Additionally, the article analyzes the trends of winning horses from previous years to help predict this year’s tournament.
Overview of the Scottish Grand National Horse Racing 2025
The Scottish Grand National horse race was first held in 1858 and moved to Ayr racecourse in 1966. Similar to the Grand National Aintree, this race is also a First-Class event. Horses aged 5 years and older must overcome 27 standard obstacles on a nearly 4-mile track.
Typically, the race takes place a few weeks after the Aintree race, depending on the Easter schedule. Notably, Red Rum is the only horse to have won both events in the same year (1974). Moreover, Music Hall was the first horse to win both in 1922, and Earth Summit (1994) is the most recent horse to win the Scottish Grand National, Welsh Grand National, and British Grand National.
Scottish Grand National Horse Racing Trends
Is this year’s winner of the worth betting on for the next event? Over the past 20 years, betting on a horse to win the Scottish Grand National in the next race would have won only three times. Betting on all 18 horses that entered subsequent events to win at starting odds (SP) in the next event would have resulted in a loss, with a total loss percentage (LSP) of -1.25. Therefore, before placing your bets on the 2025 Scottish Grand National, see which other horses today are predicted to win on the Horse Racing Predictions page.
In 2014, the horse holding the slowest time record in the past 20 years was Al Co, trained by Peter Bowen and ridden by Jamie Moore. They won with a time of 8:35.70. On the other hand, Hot Weld, trained by Ferdy Murphy and ridden by P J McDonald, set the fastest time of 7:55.10 in the 2007 race.
These are the three fastest horses in the Scottish Grand National over the past 20 years:
- Hot Weld (7:55.10) 2007
- Joe Farrell (8:00.50) 2018
- Taking Risks (8:02.40) 2019
List of Previous Winners
Below is a list of 10 horses that won the Scottish Grand National horse race in the last 10 years. Each row displays the year the race was held, the name of the winning horse along with its age and weight. Additionally, the horse’s trainer and rider at the time of the win are shown, along with the horse’s starting odds.
Origin of the Winning Horse
The backgrounds of winning trainers of the Scottish Grand National come from the following countries:
- Great Britain (GB): 17 wins with 55 other places out of 453 participating horses.
- France (FR): 2 wins with 1 other place out of 10 participating horses.
- Ireland (IRE): 1 win with 4 other places out of 42 participating horses.
Statistics on the Achievements of Riders
The leading horseman of the Scottish Grand National over the past 20 years is Sam Twiston-Davies, who has won the tournament twice with Vicente (2016 & 2017).
Here are some top statistics for Scottish Grand National horsemen over the past 20 years (R = Number of horses ridden, W = Number of horses won, P = Number of horses finishing in Top [X] – including horses winning prizes. Win LSP is based on 1 winning point, and EW LSP is based on 0.5 winning points & 0.5 finishing points):
Analysis of Scottish Grand National Horse Racing Trends
Trend Factor: The factor yielding the most 10+ winning horses and the best average floor win ratio (LSP) is when the horse has 1 win in the last 90 days. In this case, the average LSP is +103.00. Conversely, the least effective factor, which did not produce any winning horses, was when the horse ran on a heavy track in its debut. Statistics show that the winning rate in this case is 0-67.
Racetracks: Doncaster and Cheltenham are the racetracks that produce the most Scottish Grand National-winning horses, with each track having 3 champions.
Gender: The race is open to both male and female horses. However, stallions dominated with 19 wins from 498 starts, while mares had just 1 win from 7 starts.
Origin
Looking back at recent races, these are the male horse breeds whose offspring have won the Scottish Grand National multiple times:
- Dom Alco (3-time champion)
- Pistolet Bleu (2-time champion)
These are the stallions whose offspring failed to win the Scottish Grand National despite multiple attempts:
- Milan (0 wins from 12 starts)
- Kings Theater (0 wins from 11 starts)
- Roselier (0 wins from 11 starts)
- Brian Boru (0 wins from 10 starts)
- Old Vic (0 wins from 8 starts)
Odds
In terms of winning odds in the last 20 races, the horse with the highest winning odds was Iris De Balme in 2008, winning at odds of 66/1 under the guidance of Charlie Huxley. Over the last 20 races, only the 3 highest-rated horses have won. Therefore, combine the information on this page with insights from reputable betting experts to find options for the 2025 Scottish Grand National race.
List of Horses Participating in the 2024 Scottish Grand National Horse Race
The entry list for the Scottish Grand National horse race will initially include many horses. Trainers will disqualify some horses for various reasons. The line-up will then be narrowed considerably with a five-day notice before the final line-up is announced on the Thursday before race day. The Scottish Grand National race only allows a maximum of 30 horses to participate.
- 5-day notice (April 14)
- Final announcement (April 17)
- Race Day (April 19)
Tips for the Scottish National
There are a few ways to narrow down the field and find your options for the Scottish Grand National. The most common way is to use trends, which means analyzing previous races to find patterns. You can find the full list of trends above, courtesy of FJILI.
Avoid choosing a horse that wasn’t rated highly in its most recent start. Statistics show that out of 138 horses participating in the Scottish National with odds greater than 18/1 in the previous run, none won.
In this type of racing, you don’t want to choose a horse that has never competed. However, you should also select a horse that has raced before. Horses with 3-7 starts last year are ideal choices, while horses outside this range have a win rate of 0-104.
Ways to Choose Horses:
- Use trends to narrow down the list of participating horses.
- Read comments from leading horse racing betting experts.
- See the most popular choices for the Scottish National.
Ideally, you should choose a trustworthy horse. In the last 20 races, 156 participating horses fell at least once that season. Only two of these horses won: Vicente in 2017 and Macdermott in 2024.
Weight: In a tough race like this, the weight the horse must carry is also an important factor. Gray Abbey in 2004 is the most recent winning horse to carry top weight. Fourteen of the last twenty winning horses carried 14lbs less weight than the heaviest horse, and eleven of those carried 20lbs less weight than the heaviest horse.
