The Scottish Grand National - Ayr’s social and sporting event of the year!

AYR’S biggest sporting AND social event of the year - the Coral Scottish Grand National - is just a few days away, and already excitement is building, with more than 18,000 people expected to flock to Ayr Racecourse on Saturday 21 April.

And with around 5,000 likely to be in attendance on Friday - the first day of the two-day horse-racing festival – not only the course will be busy, but also local hotels, bars, restaurants, shops and taxi companies.

The Racecourse is geared up for the big event with more than 800 staff in place to make sure everything runs as smoothly as possible so that everyone enjoys their weekend’s racing.

A feature of the on-course facilities again this year will be the John Smith’s No Nonsense tented village with 67 bars and a huge variety of food outlets.

Another huge improvement is the state of the art £200,000 parade ring and sumptuous Champagne Gardens, including the latest revolutionary Ferado Terrace which enables guests to eat and drink outdoors no matter the weather.

There will be entertainment in the form of samba band Beats of Brazil who are returning to the racecourse by popular demand and Club stand patrons can enjoy live music in the Horseshoe Bar within the Princess Royal Suite on Friday with New Trix and on Saturday with the Halos. Both these bans will play for three hours after racing.

Corporate hospitality bookings over the two days are in excess of 2,000 and its anticipated there will be more than 4000 burgers eaten, 45,000 pints of beer and lager drunk, 1200 bottles of champagne quaffed, 2500 bottles of wine sold and 1800 bottles of spirits dispensed. And to make sure everyone remains cool, a staggering 4,800,000 ice cubes will be added to the drinks.

Advance ticket sales are well up on this stage last year and hospitality is at an all time high.

Ayr Racecourse Marketing Manager Lindsey Smith said: "Everything is geared for a tremendous two days, and we are pulling out all the stops to ensure everyone who attends has a fabulous time.

"All our bars and restaurants will have extra staff on duty to ensure nobody has to wait too long for service. This worked so well at last year’s Ayr Gold Cup Festival, and we are sure it will be a success again.

"With advance ticket sales so high and hospitality bookings also very healthy, we are anticipating our biggest crowd for many years."

Tickets can be booked in advance by calling 0870-8505666 or by going online at www.ayr-racecourse.co.uk