IT’S VERY much National season at the moment, with last week’s Grand National succeeded by Saturday’s Scottish Grand National (3.35pm) at Ayr.
With Willie Mullins’ I Am Maximus winning at Aintree, the Closutton handler now leads the British Trainers’ Championship, despite only having had 19 winners this season.
There isn’t much Mullins hasn’t won on these shores, but the trainers’ title is one of them, and with that now a realistic target, he has said that he’s going to send plenty across the Irish Sea to make sure his name is etched on the trophy for the first time at the end of the month.
His Scottish National contender, Macdermott, has been very well-backed in recent days and is now the 6/1 favourite.
He was impressive at Fairyhouse last time, but this contest is much more competitive and he’s got to be taken on at that sort of price, regardless of the fact he’s trained by Mullins.
The other major Mullins contender looks to be Mr Incredible, who unseated at The Chair at Aintree.
We all know he’s a bit of an enigma, but he’s certainly talented and given the amount of money that came for him prior to the National, he was clearly fancied to go well.
He’s just not my sort of horse, so can win at 7/1 and I actually would give his Midlands National conqueror, Beauport, a squeak.
I wouldn’t rule him out, but the two I like most are GIT MAKER and INIS OIRR.
Git Maker could be very well-handicapped off a mark of 133 given his run in the Kim Muir last time.
Granted he was beaten eight lengths by Inothewayurthinkin, but that horse won the Grade One Mildmay Novices’ Chase last week by four lengths, so he clearly bumped into a horse that was a class apart.
If you take Inothewayurthinkin out of the Kim Muir, Git Maker would have won the race by 18 lengths meaning he would have taken a massive hike in the weights, so the fact he’s gone up just a pound surely makes him very dangerous off this sort of mark.
Conditions should be perfect for Jamie Snowden’s charge and he rates a very solid each-way bet at 10/1.
There aren’t many better trainers with long distance horses than Lucinda Russell, and I can’t let Inis Oirr go unbacked at 20/1.
You rarely see horses win a race run over a marathon distance quite as easily as he did at Musselburgh last time and, while he’s gone up a stone for it, he finished like he could have gone around again.
It was the first time he’d worn a visor and it clearly worked wonders, so if it has the same effect again he should run another big race.
Don’t forget too that the stable’s Mighty Thunder was second at Musselburgh before going onto win this in 2021.
He’s only a seven-year-old and there should be lots more to come.
Earlier on the card, I’ll have a few quid each-way at 20/1 on FIERCELY PROUD in the Scottish Champion Hurdle (2.25pm).
This is his first start in a handicap, having chased home the likes of Jeriko Du Reponet and Lump Sum this season.
It looks like Rubaud will run, which will keep the weights down, and I have a suspicion Fiercely Proud might have got in here lightly off a mark of 130.
SELECTIONS SATURDAY
Fiercely Proud e/w 2.25pm Ayr
Git Maker e/w 3.35pm Ayr
Inis Oirr e/w 3.35pm Ayr
