Ayr’s Scottish Grand National (3.35) is the centrepiece of this Saturday’s ITV Racing transmission and looks set to play a pivotal role in deciding the UK trainers championship.
Last year MacDermott’s victory for Willie Mullins helped him overhaul title pace-setter Dan Skelton and the same scenario could play out 12 months on.
Mullins had threatened to field a football team’s worth of runners, but his raiding party was trimmed down to six at Thursday’s 48-hour declaration stage.
Skelton fields two representatives as he bids to decisively fend off the Closutton colossus, but our money’s on both men being disappointed.
3.35 Ayr – Scottish Grand National best bet
19/1
Bet on the latest horse racing odds at Betzone
Dubbed a ‘National’ horse in November
Trainer Nicky Richards first eyed up this race with FAMOUS BRIDGE two years ago, only to withdraw him the day with the official reason that the good ground was unsuitable.
Two seasons on, the Greystoke handler served again served notice that he considered his nine-year-old an ideal type for marathon handicap chases, telling reporters in November:
“We are half thinking if he could make up into a Grand National horse. He will need to go up a few pounds to get in, but we just thought he would be the ideal horse for a National.”
Ultimately Famous Bridge didn’t quite clamber the handicap to the heights required having been rated 3lbs below the eventual Aintree bottom weight, but his form subsequent to his Kelso return suggests he’s more than capable of making amends in the Scottish version.
Proved his trainer right at Haydock
Four days after the Grand National weights were released, Famous Bridge proved his trainer’s instincts correct with a victory that reads very nicely in terms of the challenge he faces at Ayr.
Stepping up to 3m4f for Haydock’s Grand National Trial he won by three lengths ‘going away’ on the same good-to-soft ground he should encounter on Saturday, in a manner that suggests he should relish a further step up on trip.
The handicapper gave him a 3lb rise for that success, which seems far from excessive given the manner of victory and he followed up that run with a creditable sixth behind runaway winner Myretown in the Ultima at Cheltenham.
Richards has Scottish National previous
There’s plenty of talk about needing a novice to win the Scottish Grand National these days, with four of them taking the laurels inside the last nine runnings.
However, that needn’t put anyone off backing proven stayer Famous Bridge, whose trainer landed this race with Takingrisks, another long-odds non-novice back in 2019.
The then-10-year-old landed the race in his 20th run over fences, six runs more than our selection (a proven stayer on good-to-soft ground) has had to date
