Dan Skelton targets bogey track as rivals jockey for Scottish Grand National glory

Dan Skelton is already certain to be crowned the UK’s champion trainer over jumps for the first time this season, but still has a few remaining targets in the final days of what is already a record-breaking campaign.

Skelton became the first trainer to reach £4m in prize money in a British jumps season less than a month ago, and will send five runners on the 320-mile trip to Ayr on Saturday as he looks to make a big dent in the £200,000 required to pass £5m.

Nor has it escaped Skelton’s notice that his yard has sent out a winner at 39 of Britain’s 41 jumping tracks so far this season. The only gaps left to be filled are Perth and Plumpton – where the stable has somehow drawn a blank from 20 runners including several favourites – and both tracks stage meetings over the next few days.

“It’s never been done before so we’re going to give it our best shot,” Skelton said on Friday. “We just can’t quite seem to get over the line at Plumpton, but maybe Sunday [when the yard has two runners in the feature event, the Sussex Stayers’ Handicap Hurdle] will be the day that we do.”

The Scottish Grand National has been a turning point in the trainers’ championship race in the last two seasons, but with Willie Mullins having already relinquished his grip on the title, his stable has only one runner on Saturday as he attempts to complete the Grand National double at Aintree and Ayr for the third year running.

Patrick Mullins, who was unshipped from Grangeclare West at the first in the big one at Aintree last weekend, takes the reins on Road To Home, who was beaten less than a length in the Fulke Walwyn/Kim Muir at Cheltenham last month.

He is 6lb higher in the weights on Saturday, though, and King Of Answers (3.35), trained locally by Lucinda Russell and Michael Scudamore, looks a strong bet at about 7-1.

King Of Answers was also a runner-up at Cheltenham, where he made plenty of ground from well off the pace in the National Hunt Chase. He is just 3lb higher on Saturday, when the four-mile trip could well see further improvement.

Willie Mullins (left) is looking to complete the Grand National double with a win at Ayr this weekend after saddling the winner at Aintree. Photograph: Mike Egerton/PA

Ayr 1.10: A strong gallop looks guaranteed with several frontrunners in the lineup and Patrick Wadge should have the previous course-and-distance winner Traprain Law poised to strike as the leaders being to tire.

Newbury 1.25: Touleen was ill at ease on the track when losing her unbeaten record in the Rockfel at Newmarket last season, but Owen Burrows’s filly was highly impressive in two earlier wins and will appreciate this return to a flatter track.

Ayr 1.45: Track, trip and going all look ideal for Diamond Dealer, who will be tough to peg back if he gets into his usual rhythm in front.

Newbury 2.00: Albert Einstein was a big disappointment at the Curragh in March and Zavateri, who was within three lengths of the winner in the Dewhurst, looks the more solid option.

Ayr 2.20: Little went Gibbs Island’s way in the County Hurdle at Cheltenham last month but Tom Lacey’s gelding still outran odds of 50-1 to finish seventh. Having been dropped 1lb since, this valuable prize could offer some compensation.

Newbury 2.35: Pride Of Arras, last year’s Dante winner, can make a successful seasonal debut for the third year running.

Ayr 2.55: The Skelton team’s Twistthenightaway will be fancied to complete a hat-trick from a 6lb higher mark after a cosy win at Bangor in February.

Newbury 3.10: Back In Black won first time up at this track last season and has scope for significant progress this season with just nine runs behind him to date.