Mullins eyes Scottish raid to boost British title chances

Having bagged the Aintree Grand National on Saturday and moved ahead in the race for the British Trainers’ Championship, Willie Mullins is turning his eyes to Saturday’s Scottish Grand National with the price of his Macdermott being slashed for the Ayr feature.

Mullins had a hugely successful Cheltenham and was frequently in the money at Aintree too, not least whenPaul Town end drove I Am Maximum to glory in Saturday’s showpiece to add £500,000 (€584,000) to the pot of prizemoney he has won in Britain this season.

That sum puts him ahead of Dan Skelton and Paul Nicholls and there is more money on offer still at the Ayr fixture coming up on Friday and Saturday, as Mullins seeks to emulate the great Vincent O’Brien who won the British and Irish titles in successive years in the 1950s.

Coral have made Macdermott the 6/1 favourite for the Scottish National, which has a first prize of £112,540, and Mullins is now the 1/2 favourite for the trainers’ title. In addition to the National, the Scottish Champion Hurdle is worth £56,270 to the winner.

“After the success of I Am Maximus in the Aintree showpiece on Saturday, punters are now backing Willie Mullins to make it a Grand National double with victory at Ayr, and Macdermott is a significant market mover for the race, his odds tumbling from 10/1 to 6/1 clear favouritism, while the man himself is now 1/2 to land a first British trainers’ title,” said Coral’s David Stevens.

Mullins, meanwhile, has acknowledged that it’s “game on” in his pursuit of a first British championship.

While it took him 19 years to follow up his initial National success with Hedgehunter, his domination of the National Hunt scene on both sides of the Irish Sea is now such that he is odds-on across the board to win a title in another country.

The prospect of emulating the legendary O’Brien (who did it in successive years in the 1950s) has loomed large since Mullins once again reigned supreme at the Cheltenham Festival, winning the Champion Hurdle and Gold Cup.

With a lead of almost £40,000 over Dan Skelton, Paddy Power make Mullins the 8/15 favourite, and British racegoers certainly have not seen the last of the man from Closutton this season.

“I didn’t know we’d gone in front. You can expect to see us at Sandown, Ayr and wherever,” he said. “We’ll have to go for it now. We needed to have a really good National and we have. It’s game on now, isn’t it.

“I’d love to win the championship. Vincent O’Brien has done it in the 1950s and it is something different to do.

“As much as I’d like to win it my owners would like me to win it and so would my staff, so now we’re in this position you have to have a real go.”