The Scottish Grand National remained at Bogside until the track closed in 1965. It had hosted some great races and saw three tiple winners of the marathon prize in Couvrefeu II (1911, 1912, 1913), Southern Hero (1934, 1936, 1939) and Queen’s Taste (1953, 1954, 1956).
Merryman II won the race in 1959 before going on to land the Grand National the following year and the 1964 winner Popham Down was to become even more famous, or, perhaps more accurately, infamous, at Aintree.
It was the Fulke Walwyn‐trained chaser who, running loose after unseating jockey Macer Gifford at the first fence, caused the bedlam that saw 100‐1 outsider Foinavon skip past the melee to win the 1967 National.
By then Bogside had closed and the Scottish version had been moved to nearby Ayr. It continued to attract some of jump racing’s best staying chasers.
In 1974 one of the very best, Red Rum, graced the race. Fresh from the second of his three Grand National successes, Ginger McCain’s star became the first horse to follow Aintree glory with victory in the Scottish equivalent. He remains the only horse to have done the double in the same season.