The five Scottish racecourses are Ayr, Kelso, Musselburgh and Perth and Hamilton Park and as the Scottish Racing Academy point out on their website, horseracing in Scotland is a uniquely year-round sporting attraction.
Scottish Racecourse List:
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Ayr Racecourse
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Kelso Racecourse
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Musselburgh Racecourse
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Perth Racecourse
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Hamilton Park Racecourse
To attract the best horses regularly from the major training centres south of the border, Scottish tracks offer proportionately higher prize money and invest consistently in their hospitality.
They really could teach their southern counterparts a thing or two on that score.
Ayr Racecourse
Horse racing in Ayr can be traced back to 1576 but the first organised meeting was held in 1771 with the first Ayr Gold Cup run in 1804. The Western Meeting Club was formed in 1824 which is now known as the Ayr Gold Cup Festival.
Another important date in the history of Ayr Racecourse was in 1950 when the jumps course was established meaning there was all the year round racing for the first time ever at Ayr.
And in 1966 Ayr played host to the Scottish Grand National for the very first t time when it was transferred there after the closure of Bogside Racecourse.
You can check out all our latest Grand National odds here.
Kelso Racecourse
Records exist of racing taking place near the town of Kelso, at Caverton Edge, prior to 1734.
But the foundation stone for Kelso’s Listed Grandstand was laid on 12th July 1822, when the Berrymoss became the first purpose-built racecourse in Scotland.
Kelso Racecourse is a National Hunt course staging 15 jumps fixtures from September through until May in the beautiful Borders countryside and picturesque town of Kelso.
Offering some of the best Scottish Jump racing and attracting the finest horses, jockeys and trainers.
Musselburgh Racecourse
The first races in Musselburgh took place in 1777 under the auspices of the Royal Caledonian Hunt.
Between 1789 and 1816, race meetings were held on the sands at Leith, while in 1816, they returned permanently to Musselburgh, to a course laid out for them by the town council.
Formerly known as Edinburgh Racecourse, situated at Linkfield Road and close to the River Esk, it is the second biggest racecourse in Scotland (the first being Ayr) and the UK’s fourteenth biggest.
Perth Racecourse
Racing in Perth officially dates from 1613, when it was first recorded that gentlemen raced their horses competitively on that large area of greenery known as the South Inch.
Over the years, the attendance levels for racing at Perth Racecourse have consistently been the biggest in Scotland.
For the past decade, Perth has ranked in the top 10 most popular race tracks in the UK and punters still enjoy betting on the horse racing odds there.
Hamilton Park Racecourse
The very first race to take place in Hamilton was in 1782 at a site in Chatelherault, situated just outside the town.
By 1785, the course had three racing fixtures and staged jump racing until 1907 when sadly the course was closed. In 1926, racing moved to our current location on Bothwell Road having raised £100,000 to revive racing.
The revival of racing at Hamilton Park made it one of the newest courses in the country and became the second course in Lanarkshire - with Lanark Racecourse later closing in 1977.
Hamilton Park was the first racecourse in the country to stage an evening meeting in 1947, something that is now common place on British racecourses. A Trust was formed in 1973 to secure racing at Hamilton Park for all time.
Scottish Racehorse Trainers:
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N. W. Alexander
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Catch Bissett
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Daragh Bourke
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Stuart Coltherd
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Keith Dalgleish
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Ian Duncan
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James Ewart
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Sandy Forster
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Jim Goldie
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Harriet Graham & Gary Rutherford
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Alison Hamilton
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Gary Harrison
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Iain Jardine
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Jean McGregor
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Linda Perratt
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Lucinda Russell
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Katie Scott
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R. Mike Smith
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Jackie Stephen
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Sandy Thomson
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Donald Whillans
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Ewan Whillans
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to Alamy*
