Friday's serving of Mullins v Nicholls

A look at the respective runners of Willie Mullins and Paul Nicholls on Friday as the pair battle for the NH trainers' title.

Willie Mullins - 2,266,562 pounds (before racing Friday)

Just the one at Perth for Mullins, the 11-year-old Rolly Baby. Winner of a beginners' chase last time, he looks no more than fairly treated off a mark of 134, having been beaten on his sole handicap start over timber off a mark some 6lb lower. Granted, he's more a chaser it would seem but this looks quite a hot little race and decent ground is something of an unknown. With 9,097 pounds on offer to the winner, Rolly Baby could help Mullins further eat into the Nicholls lead.

Paul Nicholls - 2,320,118 pounds (before racing Friday)

First up for Nicholls at Chepstow is Rainy City, who runs in the colours of Sir Alex Ferguson. This six-year-old returned from a year off with a big run at Doncaster in January and bettered that to get off the mark over hurdles at Exeter last time out. That form hasn't been put to the test yet but he's at least demonstrated that a stiff track isn't a concern and there should be more to come, although strictly on the figures there will need to be. Big Chief Benny was nine lengths ahead when the pair met at Doncaster and much will depend on how much Nicholls' horse has improved for that and his subsequent run.

Division two of the novices' hurdle provides Nicholls with an obvious chance, as his Simon Squirrel is entitled to win this if running to his official rating of 134. He ran in two Sky Bet Supreme trials earlier in the season, finishing within six lengths of eventual Supreme winner Altior in the first of them, and his bumper defeat of now-154-rated Rock The Kasbah is further testament to his ability. Third in a decent handicap hurdle at Cheltenham last time, a repeat may well be good enough, although he is of course turned out again quickly after what might have been quite a hard race.

Having raced for the best part of 70,000 pounds last time, the mere fact that short of 8,000 pounds is on offer for this race tells you that Ruben Cotter takes a big drop in grade. He ran okay in the Topham but hasn't had long to recover and is dropping in the weights for a reason. Certainly, his best form would give him a chance off 134 - he was a ready winner of a better race off 132 last year - and he ran well over hurdles at Chepstow. Punters will likely give him the benefit of the doubt given the situation but it does require a leap of faith to back a horse beaten over 140 lengths across his last three starts.

Just 2,599 pounds is on offer for this big-field maiden but it's all money in the bank and Whispering Storm has an obvious chance for Nicholls. Fifth behind Nambour (Mullins, winner at Perth on Wednesday) on his sole start for Adrian Maguire, he then ran on into a never-threatening fourth on his first start for this yard before switching to hurdles last time. Again, he's turned out quickly having run a fair race at Exeter so the form is hard to weigh up but he's certainly improving. This is a winnable race, with the 120-rated Aston Cantlow setting the standard.