Willie Mullins took a huge step towards winning the UK jump trainers’ championship for the first time, and did so by the narrowest of margins, as Macdermott, an 18-1 chance, took the Coral Scottish Grand National here on Saturday, beating Surrey Quest by a nose after a nip-and-tuck battle from the final fence to the line.
Mullins also saddled the fourth, fifth and sixth, giving him a total haul of prize money of £131,120 from the £200,000 on offer. He is now more than £150,000 clear of Dan Skelton, his nearest pursue in the championship race, with Paul Nicholls, the defending champion, around £75,000 further behind in third.
Stratford-On-Avon 1.10 Villainess 1.40 Twp Stori 2.15 Lady Gwen 2.48 River Tyne 3.23 Avada Kedavra 3.55 Raise Your Glass 4.25 Deise Aba
Wincanton 1.22 Wavering Down 1.57 Irish Hill 2.32 Mirabad 3.02 Manuelito 3.35 Inflexible 4.07 Guillaume 4.37 Celtic Dino
Musselburgh 3.45 Whisky McGonagall 4.15 Do It Now 4.45 Hougomont 5.15 Plus Point (nb) 5.45 Individualism (nap) 6.15 Abduction 6.45 Glorious Angel
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Stratford-On-Avon 1.10 Villainess 1.40 Twp Stori 2.15 Lady Gwen 2.48 River Tyne 3.23 Avada Kedavra 3.55 Raise Your Glass 4.25 Deise Aba
Wincanton 1.22 Wavering Down 1.57 Irish Hill 2.32 Mirabad 3.02 Manuelito 3.35 Inflexible 4.07 Guillaume 4.37 Celtic Dino
Musselburgh 3.45 Whisky McGonagall 4.15 Do It Now 4.45 Hougomont 5.15 Plus Point (nb) 5.45 Individualism (nap) 6.15 Abduction 6.45 Glorious Angel
The race did not start auspiciously for Mullins as Mr Incredible, the shortest of his six runners in the betting, all but refused to race, but Macdermott, who the trainer sees as the ideal type for Aintree’s Grand National next year, pulled out all the stops to put Mullins close to another slice of jumping history.
Vincent O’Brien was the last Irish-based trainer to win the title, in 1954, but Mullins is now all but certain to emulate him when the season concludes at Sandown Park next Saturday.
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“I thought we’d just got pipped on the line,” Mullins said. “That’s one photograph that I’ll be taking home. Halfway around, he was just jumping so superbly and Danny [Mullins, his nephew] just kept a lid on him as long as he could. But for a little flick at the last, he might have won easy enough.”