Ayr Races

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Known as Scotland's Premier Racecourse, the Ayr Racecourse is home to the Ayr Races - which include the famous Coral Scottish Grand National in April, and The John Smith's Ayr Gold Cup Festival in September. The Ayr Races is a dual purpose track, and hosts not only National Hunt races, but also Flat Fixtures. Races are held all year round, with 28 days of fixtures on offer in 2008. Ayr Racecourse is a relatively new course, and boasts the state of the art modern facilities you would expect. It was built to replace an earlier course on Racecourse Road in Ayr. Because of its larger size and space, the present racecourse can provide much more to the local community as a venue, and holds a market and a car boot sale every Sunday, unless they conflict with the Ayr Races. Numerous improvements have been made to the course in recent years as the popularity of the Ayr Races have increased, with a new grandstand sports bar opened in April 2008. This new feature to the course not only provides a state of the art bar and betting facilities, but also acts a a live entertainment venue on the main Festival race days. As well as drinks in the bar, the grandstand sports bar also offers a selection of hot and cold food, rolls, sandwiches and all you would expect from a bustling modern chafe. Arguably the most famous Ayr Races are at the two day Coral Scottish Grand National Festival, which is usually held in April. This jumps meeting is Scotland's richest, and offers more than £500,000 in prize money. More than 20,000 people are expected to visit Ayr for the festival, and, when it was broadcasted on Channel 4 last year, it attracted over 900,000 viewers - making it one of the biggest TV races of the year in terms of popularity. Other notable races held at Ayr include the Ayr Gold Cup, the Firth of Clyde Stakes and the Scottish Derby, which was last run in 2005.

Ayr Races Information

Ayrs course runs in a left handed oval that covers one and a half miles and a long run in. It's well suited to gallopers, though is longer than many - making it a real test of a horse. Because Ayr is close to the West coast, it benefits from good, sandy soil and a moderate climate - making the grounds at Ayr an excellent surface for racing all year round. There are two enclosures available at the Ayr Races, the Grandstand and the Club, and they both have Tote betting facilities and provide a range of well-stocked bars and cafes and stalls for hold and cold food. All children under the age of 16 are admitted free to all race meetings.

Getting There Ayr is only 35 miles from Glasgow, with Edinburgh a 90 mile drive away. The station at Ayr is only five minutes by road from the racecourse. A ferry also runs from the town of Troon, which is only a 15 minute drive away to the city of Belfast. There is also ferry links available from Cairnryan and Stranraer to Ireland. Finally, Prestwick International Airport is only 10 minutes from Ayr.