Which are the best Scottish National trials? We studied 324 races to find out

The Scottish Grand National comes near the end of the jumps season and is a race in which preparations need to be made on the track. Talk of the strongest 'trials' for a certain race can often rely on anecdotal evidence, at best, but it is not difficult to map out the data to show whether these comparisons bear any relation to reality.

There is no need to cherry pick. For this article a total of 324 races in Britain and Ireland were taken and their most recent runnings cross-referenced to Ayr, for all Scottish Nationals run this century.

This process has highlighted a number of races which could be deemed good indicators for the Scottish National. Some would have been expected, others perhaps not. What was notable was all of the strongest performers could be placed into one of three groups.