It was a day of business meets pleasure for Alex Salmond yesterday as he headed to Ayr Racecourse for the Scottish Grand National. And naturally, amid official engagements, the First Minister took the time to have a bit of a flutter.

After a well-thumbed copy of the Racing Post was produced from his personal assistant's case, Mr Salmond selected Quarry Town as a good bet, jockeyed by Tom Scudamore, placing £20 each-way on the contender.

Unfortunately, Quarry Town trailed in the race, leaving the First Minister £40 out of pocket - and his driver wondering where the nearest cash machine was. The First Minister, it seems, is not averse to borrowing a few quid during a bad day at the races.

Mr Salmond, a former racing tipster, was at the races primarily to lend support to the Poppy Scotland Appeal, which was raising money at the event.

The First Minister told guests of the charity: "One of the great problems about being First Minister is that my racing columns have gone a bit by the by. Thousands of people have said to me, Alex, why don't you give up the politics and get back to writing those columns?'. Well, the bit about giving up politics is true, I hear that all the time.

"Ayr Racecourse is one of my favourite places, but I did not accept this invitation to come here to relive the triumphs of a racing tipster.

It was to support Poppy Scotland. The Scottish Government will always stand behind your efforts."

Mr Salmond, after selecting the best-turned-out horse, was asked to present the trophy to the owner of Asian Style, winner of the first race of the event, the Tam o' Shanter.

Burns's famous horseman had been a focus of Mr Salmond's trip to Ayrshire earlier in the day, when he visited Alloway to officially open the restored Auld Kirk, which had been the inspiration for the poem and later the resting place of his father. Mr Salmond, who took to reciting the opening of Tam o' Shanter at the graveyard, said that his love for Burns's work stemmed from his "mother's milk" and the teachings of his former soprano teacher, whom he described as a "Burns fanatic".

Alloway Auld Kirk and graveyard has been restored in advance of the 2009 Homecoming Events, designed to draw back the Scots who have settled around he world.

Mr Salmond said: "South Ayrshire is at the epicentre of the homecoming, with the birthplace of the bard and the magnificent golf courses, and what better way to advertise it than the renovation of the most famous kirk yard in the whole of Scotland. I would think that Rabbie would be having a less than quiet smile to himself."

He later added: "Burns brings together many of the aspects which represent the best of Scotland. He was the true radical spirit of Scotland, that is what Hugh MacDiarmid called him."