Overview
Ayr Racecourse is a dual purpose track racing all year round with the Flat season normally running from May through to October and the Jumps from November until April.
The two highlights of the respective seasons are the Coral Scottish Grand National Festival in April and the Virgin Bet Ayr Gold Cup Festival in September.
But with around 30 fixtures every year there are numerous racedays and nights to enjoy and sample the delights of Scotland’s premier racecourse.
The Jumps season started on Monday October 28th with plenty of further fixtures before the end of the year including the final Saturday meeting of the year, Sensational Saturday sponsored by The Scottish Bookmakers Association on the 2nd November.
Into 2025 and The Golf Inn Prestwick New Year’s Raceday on Thursday January 2nd is traditionally a highlight of the season and a perfect way to end the Festivities.
More Jumps fixtures follow in January with Monday 6th and Tuesday 21st, then February has not one but 2 Virgin Bet Racedays on Tuesday 11th and Monday 24th. March sees a fantastic weekend of racing kicking off on Friday 7th then our first Saturday fixture of 2025, Virgin Bet Raceday on Saturday 8th.
Moving into April we have our jumps season finale, the iconic Coral Scottish Grand National Festival on April 11th & 12th, with two days of high quality racing featuring the Hillhouse Quarry Handicap Chase on Friday and the Coral Scottish Grand National and the Coral Scottish Champion Hurdle on the Saturday, along with many top class supporting races both days.
Ayr’s Flat season is always busy and 2025 is no different with 17 of the aforementioned 30 days racing at the track taking place on the level, the seasonal racing highlight coming with the 3-day Gold Cup meeting in September.
The Flat action gets underway on Monday 28 April with 2 more days during May but things ramp up in June with our Summer Saturday Raceday on June 21. This meeting features the Listed Land O’Burns Fillies’ Stakes which was won in 2023 by Makarova, a filly which went on to score at Group 1 level in the 2024 renewal of the Prix de l’Abbaye de Longchamp, a feat previously achieved by 2016 Land O’Burns winner Marsha which won at Longchamp in the same season.
If it’s a Monday in July, it has to be Ayr, with racing taking place in 2025 on each of the July Mondays, the 7th, 14th, 21st and 28th. Sunday 6 July is our Family Raceday with the same all-round family entertainment available again on Monday 21 July, by which time the jockeys and trainers championships for the Ayr Flat season will be taking shape after Paul Mulrennan and Jim Goldie won the awards in 2024.
Monday 14 July will feature the latest renewal of the £30,000 Ayr Gold Cup Trial, a relatively new race in our calendar which had its best result yet in 2024 when the Trial winner Alfa Kellenic went on the land the Silver Cup in September, after just missing the cut for Gold by TWO as she was number 27 on the list for the 25-runner feature.
There are 3 days racing here in August with one of the seasonal highlights being our Saturday Racenight on 9 August, closely followed by racedays on the following two Mondays, the 11th and 18th.
Excitement gets to fever pitch amongst connections of top handicap sprinters as September approaches, with the 3-day Gold Cup beckoning this year on Thursday, Friday and Saturday, 18,19 and 20 of the month. The 2024 renewal of the £180,000 Gold Cup proved to be history making for trainer Karl Burke who saddled the first, second and third home before winning the Cambridgeshire at Newmarket the following Saturday.
Other main races on the Saturday are the Silver Cup, the Group 3 Firth Of Clyde Stakes and the Listed Doonside Cup, while the Friday card features the Bronze Cup and 2 Listed races, the Harry Roseberry Stakes and the Arran Fillies’ Stakes, with tthe Thursday action headlined by the Kilkerran Cup Handicap which has a long tradition of throwing up high-quality winners.
Flat racing concludes for the year with racing on Tuesday 30 September and Thursday 9 October.
Jumping resumes again with our Saturday Raceday on November 1 and we’re back to racing over jumps again in December with meetings on Monday 1 and Tuesday 9 of Christmas month.
