More success for team Mullins up at Ayr

Willie Mullins is an unstoppable force at this point and his dominance continues to grow.

We’re basically at the stage where if he wants to win a race, he does, and it’s very difficult for other trainers to prevent it from happening.

He became the first Irish trainer to win the British National Hunt Trainers’ Championship since the great Vincent O’Brien last season and he has put himself in a good position to take the crown again.

Victory in the Scottish Grand National at Ayr on Saturday has put him in the driving seat and he’s now close enough to overhaul longtime leader Dan Skelton.

No-show on Friday

Ayr’s Scottish Grand National meeting took place over two days and the first fixture was on Friday.

Mullins had numerous entries at the five-day stage but decided against having any runners on Day 1, which was a bit of a surprise, and Skelton managed to take advantage, completing a valuable treble.

This obviously handed Skelton the initiative but Mullins was inevitably back with a vengeance on Day 2.

Victory came when it mattered

The day got off to an underwhelming start for the Mullins team, with their runners in the first four races all comfortably beaten. Western Diego was up with the pace in the opening two-mile handicap chase but some jumping errors weakened his finishing effort.

Lough Glynn was very keen in the early stages of the CPMS Novices' Champion Handicap Chase, which would have given Mullins £25,941 if he had won. Sean O’Keeffe pulled him up after the ninth fence however and he was reportedly lame on his right-hind.

None of Mullins’ four runners in the Scottish Champion Hurdle were able to make the frame, with Bunting fairing best, back in sixth place. Skelton’s Valgrand was an early faller in that race and we don’t know how he would have fared.

Armed And Fabulous, C’Est Ta Chance and the odds-on Chart Topper were all beaten in their respective races but Mullins still had an ace up his sleeve

Back-to-back Scottish National wins

There was £112,540 on offer to the winner of the main event and it was probably written in the stars that Mullins was going to come out on top. Of his six runners, it was the Harry Cobden-ridden Captain Cody that won the race.

Patiently ridden throughout, the seven-year-old novice crept through the race until producing his challenge after the last, where he quickly made up a three-length deficit and probably had more in hand than the official winning margin suggests.

Added to that, Mullins’ 14/1 shot Klarc Kent was the runner-up, contributing another £42,400 in prize money, despite running from out of the handicap. More success was to come as well, with Dysart Dolomite winning the concluding bumper.

Which way is the title going?

There is currently less than £2,000 separating Mullins and Skelton, indicating that there will be a showdown at Sandown on the final day of the season.

Skelton will be pushing to extend the gap between now and then, but with significant prize money on offer, it’s likely that the title will be won and lost there.