Punters love to have flutter on our biggest race

In figures published at the weekend by bookmaking giant Ladbrokes Coral, the Scottish Grand National came fourth in a table of the biggest races in terms of betting turnover.

This is a huge feather in the cap for the race as it stands above the likes of the Champion Hurdle, King George V1 Chase, Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, Ascot Gold Cup, Coral- Eclipse, 2,000 Guineas and the King George V1 and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

The only races who performed better than the Coral Scottish Grand National were the Grand National, Cheltenham Gold Cup and the Derby.

There is absolutely no doubt that since Coral took over the sponsorship of Scotland’s richest race in 2007 it has gone from strength to strength and in many betting shops throughout Scotland at least it can be as busy a day as for the Aintree Grand National.

Simon Clare, Ladbrokes Coral PR Director, takes great delight in telling people about just how popular a race with the punters the Scottish National is and the fact that there is always a big field and runners from some of the major stables in the country sparks great interest in the race.

And as I predicted last week all Club badges for Saturday, April 18 are now sold out.

The last few were sold on Friday afternoon and the only remaining tickets are for the Grandstand and the brand new Enclosure 27.

Both of these are also fast disappearing and I predict by this weekend it could be a total sell- out.