LAST year’s gallant third Seeyouatmidnight may be missing Saturday’s £215,000 Coral Scottish Grand National, but Sandy Thomson still hopes to go close.

The Borders trainer says his stable star has only suffered a minor setback so he has a couple of races in mind for him, including an ambitious tilt at the French Champion Hurdle. In the absence of Midnight, Thomson is aiming Seldom Inn at the Ayr marathon which will be screened live on ITV1. The nine-year-old, around a 16/1 chance, has won twice at Kelso this season and he is normally ridden by high-flying Brian Hughes, who is also the regular partner of Seeyouatmidnight.

All in all, it’s a fantastic two-day festival at Ayr and a sell-out 17,000 Saturday crowd will also be cheering home the winner of the £105,000 QTS Scottish Champion Hurdle.

THE SGN’s defunct former home of Bogside is within sight of Scotland’s soon-to-be newest trainer Leonard Kerr. Kerr landed last week’s Buccleuch Cup at Kelso with Havana Jack, his first winner under Rules, and he has said he has applied for a permit holder’s licence.

A semi-retired auctioneer in the antique furniture business, he has more time on his hands to focus on looking after a small string of jumpers.

JAMES Ewart is predominantly a jumps trainer and he saddled his first two-year-old runner at Musselburgh yesterday. Bloodstock agent Bobby O’Ryan has been trying to persuade the Langholm handler for some time to “dip his toe” in the water and I gather Ewart has five juveniles under his wing. He says the venture is “very exciting” and there is whisper that the best of the bunch to keep an eye on is a well-named colt by Poet’s Voice called Burns Supper.

IT’S not long until Perth and Hamilton Park emerge from their traditional mid-winter hibernation, so now is a good time to invest in a member’s badge. It represents terrific value for money as both tracks produce quality action all the way through until the autumn and more details can be found on their respective websites. Perth opens with a real swing courtesy of the festival on April 26-28 while Hamilton Park starts with Totepool Family Raceday on Sunday, May 7.

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