Willie Mullins took a big step towards winning the British High Jump Trainers’ Championship for the first time with a narrow victory over Macdermott 18 on Saturday 1 to win the Coral Scottish Grand National, beating Surrey Quest by a slim margin after a tight battle from the final fence to the finish line.
Mullins also finished fourth, fifth and sixth, taking his total to £131,120 out of a £200,000 prize pool. He now leads Dan Skelton, his nearest competitor in the title race, by more than £150,000, with defending champion Paul Nicholls some £75,000 adrift of third place.
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Greg Wood’s Sunday Tips
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stratford upon avon 1.10 The Villain 1.40 Twp Story 2.15 Lady Gwen 2.48 Tyne 3.23 Avada Kedavra 3.55 Raise Your Glass 4.25 Desaaba
wincanton 1.22 Wobbly 1.57 Irish Mountain 2.32 Mirabad 3.02 Manuelito 3.35 Inflexible 4.07 Guillaume 4.37 Celtino
musselburgh 3.45 Whiskey McGonagall 4.15 Act Now 4.45 Ugomon 5.15 Bonus Points (nb) 5.45 Individualism (Siesnap) 6.15 Kidnapping 6.45 Angel of Glory
The race got off to a rocky start for Mullins as Mr Incredible, the shortest of his six runners, almost refused to race, but the trainer believes that next year Ant McDermott, the ideal type of national racer, pulled out all the stops to get Mullins close to another piece of jumping history.
Vincent O’Brien was the last Irish manager to win the title in 1954, but Mullins will now almost certainly follow his example when the season ends at Sandown Park next Saturday.
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“I thought we just got beat,” Mullins said. “This is a picture I’m going to take home. Halfway through, he jumped really well, Danny [Mullins, his nephew] Just cover him up for as long as possible. If not for a little trick at the end, he might have won easily.
