Coral Scottish Grand National day at Ayr Racecourse is set to become Scotland’s richest raceday with half a million pounds worth of prize money set to be won over the 8-race card on Saturday April 20.

The £200,000 Coral Scottish Grand National over 4 miles and a furlong will be the main attraction on one of the biggest days of the racing year and the limited handicap Coral Scottish Champion Hurdle will see its prize pot increased from £75,000 to £100,000 as it continues to attract some of the top-rated 2 miles hurdlers in training.

Last year’s Scottish Grand National was won by the Christian Williams trained Kitty’s Light which had finished second 12 months earlier behind stablemate Win My Wings.

The 2023 Scottish Champion Hurdle went to the Paul Nicholls’ trained Rubaud which won from Irish raider Colonel Mustard and the Lorna Fowler trained runner-up is currently a 33/1 chance for the Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham.

The Class 1 Scotty Brand Handicap Chase over 2 miles goes up from £40,000 to £50,000 this year, the same prize fund as the CPMS Novices’ Champion Handicap Chase over 3 miles, two quality races over fences which were won last year by the Peter Niven trained Malystic and the Dan Skelton raider Sail Away.

The Coral Seafield Trophy is becoming an increasingly popular race for mares and the 3 miles handicap hurdle will be switched from Friday to Saturday this year with the prize pot increased to £45,000 from £30,000.

The other 3 races on the card will be a £20,000 handicap hurdle, a £20,000 novices’ hurdle and the traditional closing National Hunt Flat race (bumper) having its prize money boosted from £10,000 to £15,000 and the 8-races combining to top the half-million pounds mark for the first time.

Entries for the Scottish Grand National and Scottish Champion Hurdle close on Tuesday April 2 with the weights revealed on Wednesday April 10 and final declarations confirmed on Thursday April 18.