Saturday Racing Tips
The Willie Mullins battalions arrive on the west coast of Scotland this weekend with the Closutton maestro bidding to take a vice-like grip on a second UK trainers’ championship with six runners in the £200,000 Coral Scottish Grand National on Saturday at Ayr.
Mullins trails Dan Skelton by roughly £130,000 in the title race despite saddling just 16 per cent of the runners his chief rival has sent out since the season started.
A sum total of just 143 runners has yielded 29 winners, 12 of them achieved in Grade 1s and it is incredible to think that Skelton has saddled in excess of 900 runners for his trio of Grade 1 successes.
Scottish Grand National Tips
Mullins takes dead aim at Ayr again a year on from Macdermott, Klarc Kent and Spanish Harlem giving him a priceless 1-4-6 in Saturday’s marathon feature on route to a landmark UK title.
Perhaps we should have taken more notice at the time as just a year later at Aintree he was leaving that achievement well behind in the rear mirror with an astonishing 1-2-3-5-7 on Merseyside.
In last year’s renewal, the Toby Lawes-trained Surrey Quest was the unfortunate victim of the Mullins dominance, denied by a nose by Macdermott and an inspired Danny Mullins ride following a pulsating stretch duel in the Ayr sun.
Jockey Kevin Brogan has a chance of redemption aboard the eight-year-old who has enjoyed a light campaign with connections building towards this race with a largely unexposed chaser who arrives on the back of a 69-day break after running creditably in February’s bet365 Edinburgh National.
History tells us that Surrey Quest is a better horse when fresh with his form figures standing at 2131122 following an absence of 60 days or greater. If he finds a similar rhythm to last year he ought to go close once again, and his yard have been in decent form of late.
Nicky Henderson’s hoodoo in the Grand National was extended by another year with Hyland and Chantry House failing to make an impact last week at Liverpool, but Wiseguy could well reward an each-way play in the Scottish version with betting sites offering enhanced places.
The selection looks like marathon trips are required these days following staying on efforts at the Cheltenham Festival and previously at Ascot where he stuck to his task admirably. A good winner on his comeback at Newbury last November, he remains attractively treated and is available at 25/1 on some betting apps offering six or seven places looks worth an each-way play.
Last, but no means least, last year’s sixth Spanish Harlem is also fancied to run a big race with the cheekpieces applied for the first time.
Rider Brian Hayes was arguably unlucky not to land last week’s National aboard Grangeclare West but for pitching at the final fence and losing valuable ground, but he could gain a measure of compensation here with the seven-year-old looking to be peaking following an encouraging fourth in the Punchestown National Trial last time.
A slow leap at the first in the straight saw Spanish Harlem, sent off at just 12/1 last year, lose valuable momentum and he could only find the one pace from that point on.
A year older, he looks to be coming to the boil nicely and it appears significant his price has shortened on horse racing betting sites from 33/1 in the last 24 hours.
Ayr Racing Tips
Others to take the eye at Ayr include last year’s runner-up Traprain Law (1.10pm) who has a record at the track which reads 413312 and, who like Surrey Quest, is another that could go one better than 12 months ago in his corresponding race for an owner that loves winners at this meeting.
Whistle Stop Tour (1.43pm) was hampered at an early stage of the Ultima Handicap Chase and should be more at home at a venue where he has recorded career figures of 1331, while Ethical Diamond (2.15pm) could be the answer to the Coral Scottish Grand National following an eyecatching effort in the County Hurdle at Cheltenham.
Over at the Curragh, pay attention to Betsen (2.50pm) who chased home a potentially Group class sprinter in Two Stars last time, while One Look (3.25pm) is two from two on straight courses and has won both first time out and following a 189-day absence.
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