Silver By Nature, ridden by Peter Buchanan, at the Coral Welsh National

By Geoff Webster BBC Scotland racing reporter

Here's a question for you - can you name the last Scottish-trained winner of the Scottish Grand National at Ayr?

I'll give you a clue. It wasn't this century and it wasn't even the 1990s. Try somewhere back in the early '80s. (If you cannot wait and want to know now, the answer is at the end of this offering).

For those who follow racing in Scotland, it's been far too long but maybe, just maybe, we are about to witness a Scottish success when the race is run on Saturday 17 April.

Tucked up in a yard in Milnathort in Fife is an eight-year-old grey gelding who goes by the name of Silver By Nature.

He recently ran a good field of horses ragged over three-and-a-half miles at Haydock to win the Blue Square Gold Cup Chase by 15 lengths - and a first prize of nearly £60,000 - on heavy ground.

He had already come close to winning a National, having finished second in the Welsh equivalent at the end of last year.

MY SPORT: DEBATE Will we see a home winner at Ayr this year?

Silver By Nature is owned by Geoff Brown, the chairman of Scottish Premier League club St Johnstone, who, wisely, was at Haydock instead of McDiarmid Park, where the St Johnstone v Rangers match was called off less than an hour before kick-off.

So, as the Haydock win showed, stamina is the name of the game for Silver By Nature and, having proved himself a top-class staying chaser, some might have thought the Grand National at Aintree would be the obvious choice, but Brown has nurtured a dream to win the Scottish version.

The win at Haydock was also the biggest success of her career for trainer Lucinda Russell and jockey Peter Buchanan.

Lucinda knows what it takes to train a horse for the big occasion. She also had another runner-up in the Welsh National with Strong Resolve before that horse went on to complete the course and finish 17th in the 2005 Grand National.

But what about Ayr next month and that dream of a Scottish winner?

Ayr Racecourse will host the Scottish Grand National in April

One thing that could prevent Geoff Brown realising his dream is the state of the ground. Silver By Nature loves heavy going whereas the ground at Ayr in April is often good.

While heavy going often slows others down, Silver seems to glide through it.

But on faster ground, others have a better chance of matching his stamina.

Down the years, top trainers Martin Pipe, Jenny Pitman, Ferdy Murphy and Nigel Twiston-Davies have all won it, while leading jockeys Tony McCoy, Ruby Walsh, Peter Scudamore and Adrian Maguire are all on the roll of honour.

And, although jockey Peter Buchanan comes from Northern Ireland, the prospect of a Scottish owner leading in a Scottish-trained winner of the Scottish Grand National is something that would raise the roof off the grandstand at Ayr.

Oh, and the answer to that question I posed about the last Scottish winner of the big race? Well, rewind to 1982 and a horse called Cockle Strand, trained in the Borders by Ken Oliver.

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version