Merigo at the double

Auroras Encore (25-1) jumped the final fence ahead and looked likely to provide Borders jockey Ryan Mania with a fairy-tale success in the Coral-sponsored £180,000 showpiece.

However, displaying the trademark tenacity which carried him to glory here in 2010, and second place 12 months ago, the Andrew Parker-trained 11-year-old rallied to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat in the shadow of the post. A head was the official winning margin, with 15 lengths back to 40-1 outsider King Fontaine in third and Ballyfitz (33-1) fourth.

"He's a plough horse, the ugliest horse I've ever seen," said Murphy, the son-in-law of East Lothian owners Ray and Anita Green. "But he's got a big, big heart – the heart of a lion.'

For the Greens, this was a richly deserved success. The couple have invested millions of pounds in Scottish racing in nearly 30 years and won more than 370 races. None, however, will have been celebrated as wildly at their Haddington home than this.

Ray Green said: 'It's unbelievable. To win it once was dreamland. I was over the moon with his performance last year, but to come back and do it again - words can't describe it. Winning this race means everything to me.'

With Garleton and Fruity O'Rooney pressing on from the outset no prisoners were taken over nearly three laps and 27 fences of the Ayr course. Despite that, and to the relief of the 17,000 crowd, there were no fallers among the 24 runners who took part in the four-mile marathon.

Top-weight Junior was one of the first to crack, and it did not take long before the relentless pace took its toll on Harry The Viking, the 6-1 favourite co-owned by Sir Alex Ferguson, who was pulled up with a circuit left to run. Quentin Collonges, Ikorodu Road and Knockara Beau were other fancied runners who failed to complete the course.

Always to the fore, Auroras Encore jumped into the lead at the seventh-last. It seemed to be a decisive move too, as Galaxy Rock, who had travelled strongly for champion jockey Tony McCoy, weakened quickly soon after.

Merigo was the only challenger able to keep tabs on Auroras Encore over the final four fences, but it wasn't until inside the last 50 yards – and with Murphy pushing for all his worth – that Merigo finally forced his head in front.

Lockerbie-based Parker said: "To win this race again feels even better than it did first time. We've trained him for this race all year – and if you don't get it right, you've wasted a whole season. Thankfully, we've done it right.

"Merigo is just the most honest horse to have anything to do with. When he comes here to Ayr he knows what he's coming for and switches on. What's that, five wins from eight races at Ayr now? If he comes back next year and wins it again they will have to build a statue of him."

In the meantime, the publicity-shy Parker hopes the win brings greater opportunities to make progress in his career. Merigo's previous win failed to yield the influx of horses his talents and training facilities deserve, but perhaps that will now change.

"I'm a small trainer, but not through choice," added Parker, who has only a dozen horses on his books. "Hopefully this will prove to people that I can do the job, if I'm given the horses to do it with.

"I want more runners and I want more winners. I'm not just doing this [training horses] as a hobby, I'm doing it because I want to do it properly. My late father [Colin] brought me up in a way that I should always let my horses do the talking. If this result doesn't do the talking, what will?"

Champion trainer Paul Nicholls, out of luck with Harry The Viking in his bid to win a second national in a week, landed a 96½-1 treble with Grandioso, Pacha Du Polder and Doeslessthanme, the latter two ridden by Ruby Walsh.

Raya Star gave Lanark-born trainer Alan King his first win at Ayr for six years when scampering clear from the last to capture the Scottish Champion Hurdle.