Horse in Profile: Macdermott The name Willie Mullins strikes fear into bookmakers and British trainers alike and it’s no surprise that he is set to send a very strong raiding party over to Ayr for their Scottish Grand National meeting, as he chases the trainers’ title in Britain for a second year running. Obviously, Saturday’s Scottish Grand National is the main event and Mullins is clearly after a significant portion of the £200,000 prize money. He’s set to run six in the race and amongst them is Macdermott, whose narrow victory in 2024 was pivotal to Mullins’ title charge. Scottish Grand National Free Bet Offer If you have already signed up to BoyleSports, check out more of the best betting sites and casino bonuses Macdermott Scottish Grand National Odds Macdermott to win the Scottish Grand National @ 5/1 with BoyleSports No time wasted over hurdles Macdermott started off in a Down Royal bumper back in January 2023 and he was a well beaten third that day. His next start came over hurdles and it was immediately obvious that the 2m1f trip was far too short for him. There were signs of improvement when upped to 2m5f at Limerick but Danny Mullins got the pace wrong and was a bit too aggressive from the front. That meant his finishing effort was weakened but it was a better display nonetheless. The late Michael O’Sullivan was on board at Tramore next time and Macdermott took a big step forward to get off the mark in comfortable fashion. Always up with the pace, he kicked on approaching the last and went on to score by just shy of five-lengths. That was to be his last start over hurdles and connections quickly turned their attention to chasing the following season. Scottish National success in 2024 It took him a few runs to fire over fences last season but his fortunes soon changed once upped to an extended three miles at Fairyhouse in April. He ran out an impressive winner that day and easily put 12-lengths between him and his nearest rival, the Gordon Elliott-trained Better Days Ahead. Only a nose separated Macdermott and runner-up Surrey Quest in the Scottish National last year and he clearly saw out the marathon trip well. A couple of minor errors at the 20th and the last could have cost him but in the end he just did enough to prevail under Danny Mullins. A below-par campaign thus far Things haven’t quite gone to plan so far this season and he has more letters in his form than numbers. He got no further than the start when unshipping Danny Mullins in the Thyestes Chase at Gowran Park and has failed to complete in three of his four starts thus far. The only time he did make it round was in the Paddy Power Chase at Leopardstown over Christmas and he was beaten 91-lengths that day. A poor jumping display gave him no chance and he was never in the race as a result. Could back-to-back wins be on the cards? Whilst it’s always dangerous to rule out a Willie Mullins runner, especially in Britain, it’s also very hard to make a strong case for a follow up success this year. This son of Saint Des Saints finds himself on a 5lb higher mark this time and that will make life significantly harder. The fact that he’s a course and distance winner is a big plus but he’s been very out of sorts this season. Perhaps one of Mullins’ five other runners can do the business but we’ll need to see a considerably improved performance from Macdermott for him to come out on top.
