A total of 24 runners have been declared for the Coral Scottish Grand National at Ayr.
The race was won last year by the Lucinda Russell-trained Mighty Thunder and while we won’t be seeing an entrant from the Borders handler on Saturday, there are four Scottish runners in the field with the betting suggesting the pick to be The Ferry Master.
Trained by Sandy Thomson, the nine-year-old will be partnered by Aintree Grand National winning rider, Ryan Mania.
At the head of the market, Christian Williams has declared both Kittys Light and Win My Wings and you can read his thoughts on the pair here.
Jack Tudor will retain his partnership on Kittys Light but the Welsh handler has made the eye-catching booking of Rob James on the latter and his 7lb claim will go some way to negating the rise she attracted for winning the Eider Chase at Newcastle.
Scots-born Alan King won this race in 2013 and he saddles two in this year’s renewal.
Major Dundee is one of the less exposed types in the field and the novice has raced on three occasions over the last calendar year, with wins at Fakenham and Bangor.
Irish-trained runners have historically not had a strong record though Pat Fahy will arrive into Saturday's race with two participants holding strong claims.
Stormy Judge appears the pick of the pair and Danny Mullins, who rode the grey to victory at Navan and Naas, heads across for the mount.
Owner Max McNeill will be bidding to win both Nationals and The Wolf has been declared. Adrian Heskin rides and he gave his thoughts to us here.
Here is the full declared list of runners and riders:
1 Hill Sixteen 9-11-12 Sandy Thomson/Mark McDonagh(5)
2 Vintage Clouds 12 11-9 Sue Smith/Sean Quinlan
3 Kitty's Light 6 11-8 Christian Williams/Jack Tudor
4 Fantastikas 7 11-8 Nigel Twiston-Davies/Sam Twiston-Davies
5 Fidux 9 11-7 Alan King/Daryl Jacob
6 Jersey Bean 9 11-5 Oliver Sherwood/Brendan Powell
7 Win My Wings 9 11-5 Christian Williams/Mr Rob James(7)
8 Ashtown Lad 8 11-5 Dan Skelton/Harry Skelton
9 The Wolf 8 11-4 Olly Murphy/Adrian Heskin
10 Streets Of Doyen 8 11-4 John C McConnell (IRE)/Kieren Buckley (5)
11 Stormy Judge 7 11-4 Pat Fahy (IRE)/Danny Mullins
12 Via Dolorosa 10 11-2 David Pipe/Tom Scudamore
13 Prime Venture 11 11-0 Evan Williams/Adam Wedge
14 Chirico Vallis 10 11-0 Neil Mulholland/Richie McLernon
15 Innisfree Lad 10 10-13 David Dennis/Brian Hughes
16 One More Fleurie 8 10-11 Ian Williams/Charlie Todd(3)
17 Major Dundee 7 10-11 Alan King/Tom Cannon
18 History Of Fashion 8 10-9 Pat Fahy(IRE)/Philip Enright
19 Court Master 9 10-9 Michael Scudamore/Richard Patrick
20 Ask A Honey Bee 8 10-9 Fergal O'Brien/Connor Brace
21 The Ferry Master 9 10-7 Sandy Thomson/Ryan Mania
22 El Paso Wood 8 10-6 David Pipe/Phillip Armson(7)
23 Cool Mix 10 10-4 Iain Jardine/Alan Doyle(7)
24 Strong Economy 10 10-0 Ian Duncan/Derek Fox
The bookmakers are unanimous in their view that Kittys Light will be the one to beat and he is a general 4/1 to prevail in the Grade 3 showpiece. Win My Wings is available at 6/1 while Stormy Judge ranked third by the layers at 8/1.
Ayrshire LIVE racing expert Iain Ferguson has never been afraid of looking for an outsider against the big guns and he found Mighty Thunder last year - you can view his opinion on this year's renewal here.
Find out more about the Scottish Grand National and join us as we cover the two-day Festival with our LIVE blog.
