15:35
Ayr
Odds correct as of 1:41pm 17th Apr
Saturday is going to be an exciting day for us racing fans, as there’s some excellent action across both codes. We’ve got the Scottish Grand National and Scottish Champion Hurdle on offer at Ayr, whilst hopefully we’ll get some Guineas clues from the trials at Newbury.
We’ve picked out some of the day’s more interesting angles, including a closer look at the Scottish Grand National, Aidan O’Brien sending a surprise runner over to Newbury for the Greenham Stakes and a 33/1 shot who can outrun her odds.
There’s plenty more to check out too, so keep reading to find out more. Take a look at our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.
There’s a decent prize fund of £200,000 on offer for this race and a field of 17 has been declared. The Joseph O’Brien-trained Kim Roque heads the market, undoubtedly due in part to Jordans’ excellent run in the Grand National at Aintree last Saturday.
Willie Mullins is running Road To Home this year and he provided the winner Captain Cody in 2025. He was a solid second in the Kim Muir last time out and the lightly raced chaser is interesting now trying a marathon trip for the first time.
Paul Nicholls won this a couple of times with Vicente in 2016 and 2017 and he has a couple of interesting runners. Midlands National winner Isaac Des Obeaux will have no trouble seeing out the trip and there could be more to come from Quebecois.
Our pick is the Tom Lacey-trained Montregard, who has a very smart pedigree and produced a career-best performance to win a good race at Ascot when last seen. A couple of pounds out of the handicap that day, he’s effectively running off just a 4lb higher mark.
Albert Einstein was highly rated by Aidan O’Brien as a two-year-old last term but injury led to him missing the majority of the campaign.
He looked very flat on his reappearance at the Curragh earlier this month so it’s a surprise that he’s heading to Newbury for the Greenham Stakes. That being said, an impressive performance here would put his Guineas plans firmly back on track.
Ellusive Butterfly (33/1, bet365) failed to win as a two-year-old but she produced a very solid performance to win impressively at Southwell in January. Too keen when narrowly denied by Spinning Lizzie at Kempton, the drop back to 7f should suit and Karl Burke’s filly has a fitness advantage over all but one of her 14 rivals.
Newbury’s first race is the Dubai Duty Free Stakes, which is a recognised 1000 Guineas trial, and hopefully a smart filly or two will come out of it.
There’s some value to be found, with only two runners being single-figure prices, and Owen Burrows’ Touleen is the market leader. She needs to bounce back after a below-par performance in the Rockfel but is entitled to do so.
Next up is the Greenham Stakes and it’s the colts’ turn in the spotlight. Eve Johnson Houghton’s Zavateri was a top-drawer juvenile last term and looks like a very sensible favourite here, whilst the aforementioned Albert Einstein could bounce back too.
Quebecois is an interesting runner in the Scottish National and he ran a cracker to finish third by a narrow margin in the Ultima last time. He won a novice handicap hurdle at this meeting last year and that gives him a 100 per cent course record.
Gordon Elliott’s Apache Tribe made no mistake when bolting up in a maiden hurdle here last time out and progress is anticipated from this promising six-year-old.
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