All you need to know as Ayr gears up for the Scottish Grand National

It's been a busy week of action, but there's still lots more to come, with Ayr's Scottish Grand National meeting starting today.

If that wasn't enough, the Flat is back at Newbury, and that's just two of the six meetings on offer.

There's also a Flat card at Bath, plus jumps meetings at Fontwell, Limerick and Southwell.

Going report

Fontwell (first race at 1.40)
Good (GoingStick: 8.2 on Friday at 06:00)

Newbury (1.50)
Good to soft, soft in places (GoingStick: 5.0 on Friday at 07:30)

Ayr (2.05)
Good, good to soft in places (GoingStick: Hurdle - 6.6; Chase - 6.8 on Friday at 07:15)

Limerick (4.35)
Heavy, soft to heavy in places

Bath (4.40)
Good

Southwell (4.50)
Good to soft (GoingStick: 6.1 on Friday at 06:30)

Market movers

3.15 Ayr - Trongate 25-1 (from 33)

4.30 Limerick - Mag Brady 9-1 (from 10)

4.45 Ayr - Tara View 10-1 (from 11)

4.50 Southwell - Free Range 7-1 (from 8)

5.45 Bath - Rock On Baileys 12-1 (from 16)

6.15 Bath - Marietta Robusti 17-8 (from 9-4)

7.15 Bath - Delagate This Lord 7-1 (from 8)

What to back

Maddy Playle has found one she likes at Ayr, and dispenses her reasoning in ten seconds . . .

What to read

The warm weather led to Cheltenham abandoning a chase on welfare grounds, a decision that did not meet with universal approval.

Jessica Harrington reported some sad news on Thursday, with 'gentle giant' Our Duke dying from a heart attack.

What to watch

Masar was a dominant winner of the Craven Stakes, Nick Watts offers his thoughts on the colt's Classic credentials.

It's the Punchestown festival next week, and Tony O'Hehir caught up with Ted Walsh and Tony Mullins for their Punchestown memories

The best of Racing Post Sport

There's been no shortage of football this week, and there's a crucial Championship promotion encounter on Friday evening as Millwall and Fulham face off.

It's not just football seasons reaching their finales, as Newcastle and Gloucester battle for a place in rugby union's European Challenge Cup final.

Final thought

Masar was pretty magnificent when winning the Craven, but he wasn't the only 2,000 Guineas candidate to impress. Emaraaty was an easy winner on Thursday evening at Newcastle, and John Gosden has previous with sending top-class horses to the track.