The Scottish Grand National gets its outing a week before the big Aintree Grand National south of the border.
In this Scottish Grand National 2022 preview for Saturday, we take a look at some of the history of the race and cast an eye over some key players in this field.
The Scottish Grand National is a wonderful spectacle hosted at Ayr Racecourse and it will once again attract huge support.
Grand National 2022 Odds
Kitty’s Light 5/1
Win My Wings 8/1
Stormy Judge 10/1
The Ferry Master 10/1
Ashtown Lad 14/1
The Wolf 14/1
History Of Fashion 14/1
Fantastikas 14/1
Rightplacerighttime 14/1
Fortescue 14/1
Major Dundee 16/1
Innisfree Lad 16/1
Hewick 16/1
Cool Mix 16/1
Court Master 20/1
Jersey Bean 20/1
Hill Sixteen 20/1
Ask A Honey Bee 20/1
Chirico Vallis 20/1
25/1 bar
* (odds recorded at 04:10 GMT on March 31st, 2022 at Coral)
Scottish Grand National 2022 Race Details
The Scottish Grand National is a 4m National Hunt race and it is a Grade 3 contest.
The race is hosted at the famous Ayr Racecourse in Ayrshire and this handicap fixture is run annually in April.
There are 27 fences in the fixture, three fewer than its Aintree equivalent around the left-handed course.
Last year’s prize purse at the Scottish National was at £150,000. The race is the big feature of the Scottish Grand National Festival meeting, which is a two-day affair.
Scottish Grand National Past & Present
The first-ever edition of the race was in 1858 when it was hosted in Renfrewshire and most of the obstacles were stone walls.
The race was moved to Bogside in 1867 and it became known as the Scottish Grand National in 1880.
The race stayed at Bogside all the way up until 1965 when the racecourse was closed and that is when it was moved to Ayr for the 1966 edition.
It was also that renewal in which the race was extended to the 4m trip that it is today.
Scottish Grand National Favourite
The favourite in Scottish Grand National Odds 2022 is KITTY’S LIGHT at 5/1* (odds recorded at 04:10 GMT on March 31st, 2022 at Coral).
The gelding hasn’t scored since landing a win at Kelso 12 months ago in the Borders Handicap Chase. But there have been plenty of credible runs from him.
Kitty’s Light was a runner up in last year’s Charlie Hall at Wetherby and posted a second-place finish at Kempton in the Coral Trophy Handicap Chase just over a month ago.
It’s four wins from the 13 previous chase start for the 6-year-old, but he is very interesting in taking on a trip of further than 3m 5f for the first time.
How do favourites perform in the Scottish Grand National?
It’s always worth taking a look at some trends for the Scottish Grand National and just how favourites perform.
Naturally, because this is such a gruelling, tough and unpredictable test, favouritism in the Scottish National betting market is far from a guaranteed success.
In the last twenty renewals of the contest, there has been just one winning favourite.
That was Vicente who delivered the odds for trainer Paul Nicholls in 2017.
Four of the last seven renewals have been won by a horse of at least a 25/1 quote. The biggest of those was 40/1 winner Al Co in 2014.
| Year | Horse | Jockey | Trainer | Odds |
| 2021 | Mighty Thunder | Tom Scudamore | Lucinda Russell | 8/1 |
| 2020 | Cancelled | – | – | – |
| 2019 | Takingrisks | Sean Quinlan | Nicky Richards | 25/1 |
| 2018 | Joe Farrell | Adam Wedge | Rebecca CUrtis | 33/1 |
| 2017 | Vicente | Sam Twiston-Davies | Paul Nicholls | 9/1F |
| 2016 | Vicente | Sam Twiston-Davies | Paul Nicholls | 14/1 |
| 2015 | Wayward Prince | Robert Dunne | Hilary Parrott | 25/1 |
| 2014 | Al Co | Jamie Moore | Peter Bowen | 40/1 |
| 2013 | Godsmejudge | Wayne Hutchinson | Alan King | 12/1 |
| 2012 | Merigo | Timmy Murphy | Andrew Parker | 15/2 |
| 2011 | Beshabar | Richard Johnson | Tim Vaughan | 15/2 |
Winners Past & Present
The 1966 renewal of the Grand National winner, which was the year the race moved to Ayr, was won by AFRICAN PATROL.
1974 saw one of the most famous winners of the Grand National romp home from a huge 11-13 rating at Ayr.
That was RED RUM, which was the same year that the legend won the Aintree Grand National for a historic third time.
Red Rum, Little Polvier and Earth Summit are the only three horses ever to have won both the Scottish Grand National and the Aintree Grand National in the same year.
Several winners have managed to complete the Ayr and Aintree double, but just not in the same year.
The last winner to have won the Scottish Grand National in consecutive years was Vicente in 2016 and 2017.
Jockey & Trainer Records
Three horses have won the Scottish Grand National three times and those are Couvrefeu II (1911, 1912, 1913), Southern Hero (1934, 1936, 1939) and Queen’s Taste (1953, 1954, 1956)
The all-time leading jockey in the Scottish Grand National is Charlie Cunnigham who collected four victories, the latest of which was in 1889.
Bringing things a little more up to date, Sam Twiston-Davies is the most successful jockey from the last 20 renewals of the fixture. His wins both came on Vicente (2016, 2017).
His successes are linked in to the leading trainer over the last 20 renewals of the Scottish Grand national as well.
That’s Vicente’s trainer Paul Nicholls with his two scores. No other leading trainer has won the fixture more than once in the last 20 renewals.
There are plenty of notable top trainers who have tried and tried again to land a winner without success.
Those include Philip Hobbs, David Pipe, Nicky Henderson and Venetia Williams who have all had more than 10 runners in the last 20 renewals without a victory.
Other Key Scottish National Trends
There are a lot of good strong trends to consider ahead of Scottish Grand National Odds 2022.
None of the last 20 renewals was won by a horse that had fallen during the current season.
Each of the previous 20 renewals was also won by a horse that had made between 3 and 7 starts for the season and who had won within the last nine starts.
Other trends for Scottish Grand National over the last 20 renewals include none of the winners has gone beyond 4m2½f before.
All but one of the last 20 renewals were won by a horse that had been no bigger than 16/1 last time and never more than 40/1 during their respective careers.
Scottish Grand National FAQs
What is the distance of the Scottish Grand National Race?
The Scottish Grand National is at a distance of 4 miles. That is 3 miles 7 furlongs and 176 yards, or 6,397 metres however you wish to look at it.
When the first-ever Scottish Grand National?
The race that is credited with being the first Scottish Grand National was in 1858 and it was called the West of Scotland Grand National. The race was held in Renfrewshire and it had 32 jumps.
Has the Scottish Grand National always been hosted at Ayr?
No, the initial course was near Houston, Renfrewshire before it moved to the Bogside Racecourse near Irvine in 1867. The fixture was moved to Ayr for the 1966 renewal.
Why was the 2021 Scottish Grand National moved to Sunday?
The 2021 Grand National renewal was moved from its regular Saturday slot to Sunday because of Prince Phillip’s funeral.
Coral beaten by a length offer
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If your horse finishes in beaten by a length or less from the winning horse*, Coral will match the win part of any win and each way single bets, up to £10 as a free bet on horse racing only. This Sports Promotion is only redeemable against your first real money Qualifying Bet per race, on the selected/named races.
