Win My Wings won the Scottish Grand National at Ayr Racecourse on Saturday 2nd April, finishing well clear of runner up Kittys Light with both the first and second carrying a starting price of 13/2. The pre-race odds available at the leading horse racing betting apps had the 2022 renewal of the Scottish National down as a two-runner event with traders struggling to decide between Win My Wings and Kittys Light. The pair looked well-matched on paper and had to be wary of a few dangerous underdogs in the list, but races aren’t won on the stats sheet at this level. They are earned through hard work, trust, desire and good breeding, four things the victor has in abundance.
Win My Wings won by a comfortable margin over a chasing pack held by the fellow betting favourite, but the pre-race odds didn’t reflect the race, with the distance between first and second confirmed as seven lengths. It wasn’t close, and the winner was pulling away from the field, heading for the finish line, cheered on by a supportive and appreciative crowd at the home of Scottish thoroughbred horse racing. The victorious team was made up of horse Win My Wings, who is trained by Christian Williams and ridden by Rob James, who worked hard to keep his mare clear of trouble during the early hustle and bustle of the contest.
All the talk post-race focussed on the winner, and rightly so, but it’s worth mentioning that Win My Wings beat off stablemate Kittys Light, who also runs under the banner of Williams with Jack Tudor sitting in the saddle. The second was another five lengths clear of third-place finisher Major Dundee and jockey Tom Cannon in a drawn-out finish with plenty of room between the major places.
Mare trounced the opposition
The nine-year-old mare bred in Ireland attracted plenty of attention in the ante-post betting and the build-up to the start of the race. The money kept coming for her as the field approached the tape with plenty of intelligent backers supporting the 20-race expert. There was no shortage of confidence amongst backers, but even connections couldn’t have hoped for a better race and couldn’t have imagined just how well their mare would have won one of the most special races of the year in the United Kingdom, the biggest race of its type in Scotland. She trounced the competition, turning on the speed and finishing off the challenge in the blink of an eye.
Win My Wings was carried through the opening few furlongs of the race by James, a patient and understanding jockey. She was kept back in the field, avoiding any barging or early fallers who had realised they were in over their head. When the pack began to thin and spread out a little, that’s when the team made their move. The 3m 7f distance gave them plenty to work with, and followers saw the mare move through the ranks. She started to make headway on the approach to the sixteenth fence, chased down the leaders until the nineteenth, and then piled on the pressure.
In the closing stages of the contest, we saw her move through the gears effortlessly, showing she is as pacey as she is strong and with the character of a champion. Leading four fences from home, Win My Wings still had plenty to do, but she stuck to her task admirably, going clear two out and having plenty in the tank for another burst of pace, should it be required in the final few furlongs. It wasn’t, and as the rider glanced over his shoulder, he knew the job was done, and the race was over. WIn My Wings had joined a long list of Scottish National champions.
The result followed the betting with a joint-favourite winning the race, but it wasn’t a surprise to anyone who had followed the progress of this battler. Win My Wings has now clinched victory in all three of her starts this season, winning at Exeter in January, Newcastle in February and then at Ayr in the Scottish National.
