Hot Weld wins Scottish National

McDonald claimed his biggest career success on Hot Weld

Hot Weld and Nine de Sivola gave trainer Ferdy Murphy an incredible one-two in the Scottish Grand National.

Hot Weld, ridden by 5lb claimer PJ McDonald, did it the hard way as he made all the running over an extended four miles at Ayr.

The 14-1 chance looked like he might run of steam in the final straight but battled all the way to give Murphy his third win in the race since 2000.

Nine de Sivola, the 5-1 favourite, was headed off by half a length.

Parsons Legacy (8-1) was a length and a quarter away in third, with last year's winner Run For Paddy (12-1) fourth.

Hot Weld, a former Cheltenham Festival winner, had a moment of concern late on when Parsons Legacy came to head him at the penultimate fence and it looked as if his chance had gone.

But McDonald's mount put in an impressive late charge to claim the win.

"I am delighted for the young lad (McDonald), but in my heart of hearts I always like the stable jockey to ride the winner if at all possible," admitted Murphy.

"It is nice to win the race again. I said to the horse's owner that we had the perfect horse for the race, but that we had been messed about in the winter.

"As he takes a lot of getting ready, I thought the race was coming two weeks too soon.

"Nine De Sivola was also second in the Irish National so he deserves to win a big one, but I suppose from now on we are going to have to look for conditions races for him."

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Scottish Grand National
1. Hot Weld (P McDonald) 14-1
2. Nine De Sivola (G Lee) 5-1 Fav
3. Parsons Legacy (R Johnson) 8-1
4. Run For Paddy (N Fehily) 12-1
23 ran