Chiefs at Ayr Racecourse will monitor their security on a daily basis in the run-up to Saturday’s Coral Scottish Grand National.
The spotlight on their security measures has intensified following the weekend events at Aintree, where animal rights protestors disrupted the start of the Grand National.
TV pictures showed protestors from campaign group Animal Rising trying to climb a fence, while others attempted to attach themselves to jumps and fences.
Their actions delayed the start of the race by around 15 minutes.
Over the course of the three-day Grand National Festival last week three horses died and it’s led to calls from animal rights protestors to ban the famous horse race.
It’s hoped that no similar protests unfold at Ayr this weekend, when a sell out 20,000 crowd will descend on the town’s racecourse.
A spokesperson for Ayr Racecourse said on Tuesday they were “fully aware” of speculation surrounding “possible protests” by activist groups at Saturday’s Coral Scottish Grand National meeting.
However, they had “no intelligence” to indicate Saturday’s race would be “targeted.”
The spokesperson said: “The events on Merseyside on Saturday were always going to lead to a greater sense of awareness about possible action and we are monitoring the situation on a daily basis ahead of our biggest jumps meeting of the year.
“However, at this stage, we have received no intelligence which would indicate that the meeting is being targeted by the group, Animal Rising, which attempted to disrupt the racing at Aintree on Saturday, or any others.
“We are, of course, continuing to liaise with Police Scotland and others to ensure that over 20,000 racegoers have a terrific experience of enjoying high-quality racing over the course of Friday and Saturday.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “As with any large event, we are engaging with the organisers and an appropriate policing plan is in place.”
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