'Back to the normal date' - no plans to change Scottish Grand National fixture

Ayr may have welcomed a booming crowd of 15,500 to a one-off early April Coral Scottish Grand National, but there are no plans to make the change of date permanent.

Managing director David Brown is looking forward to the meeting's return to its usual slot in the calendar next year – after the Randox Health Grand National at Aintree.

Coral Scottish Grand National: full result and race replay

"It will be back to the normal date, 100 per cent," he said with a smile. "This is a once-in-100-years thing. Racing is quite a traditional industry and people become accustomed to certain dates in the calendar. People know where the slots are and we'll be back to normal next year.

"It's usually a week or a fortnight after the Grand National. It's a totally different dynamic for customers and trainers who assume you are after Aintree and they make plans."

David Brown: 'there is also turf management to think of'Credit: David Carr

The change of date was made this year in order to accommodate Easter and to allow for a three-week gap between the Cheltenham Festival and Aintree.

It meant that Ayr was the focus of attention and the clear focus of ITV coverage on Saturday, whereas it usually has to share the limelight.

"It's true that when the Scottish Grand National takes place after Aintree some focus starts to move on to the Flat," Brown said.

"When I saw the Racing Post podcast earlier this week, the show suggested this weekend wouldn't have had a big betting race if it wasn't for us.

"But there is also turf management to think of. We have a fixture on March 12 and we would rather have a bigger gap between that and our National meeting.

"We'd prefer it to be five or six weeks for the track to recover, rather than three. April is a good month for turf to grow and that's the principal reason for us being where we continue to be in mid-April, irrespective of fixtures elsewhere."

The Scottish National, won this year by 13-2 co-favourite Win My Wings in a field of 23, is invariably in the top five races of the year in Britain for betting turnover.

"It's quite remarkable," Brown said. "When you think of the coverage that Cheltenham, Aintree and the Derby get in comparison to us, it's quite insane that our numbers are so strong."

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