The 2024 Scottish Grand National: guide to runners and tip

Willie Mullins’ desire to win a first British Trainers’ Championship is made clear at Ayr on Saturday as he in the Coral Scottish Grand National.

The 4m showpiece isn’t usually on his radar – he’s never won the £200,000 showpiece and last had a runner in it in 2016 (when he was also in with a chance of landing the title) – but the prospect of emulating Vincent O’Brien and becoming the first Irish-based trainer to scoop the British crown in 70 years means the goalposts have moved.

Macdermott

and Mr Incredible are leading fancies to bag the £112,540 first prize for Mullins, and in the process consolidate his lead over Dan Skelton and Paul Nicholls in the title race. His other quartet are Klark Kent, Ontheropes, Spanish Harlem and We’llhavewan.

There’s a good chance that the Mullins runners in Britain will be over-bet over the next week or so, and that’s part of the reason that none of his Scottish National squad make my five-horse shortlist.

Mr Incredible is simply too unreliable to back at short odds, while Macdermott, for all that he was impressive at Fairyhouse last time, has only ever raced right-handed and has shown a preference to jump in that direction, including when falling at Limerick on his penultimate start. It could just be that left-handed Ayr isn’t his cup of tea.

Ballygrifincottage flies the flag for Skelton, while Nicholls relies on Stay Away Fay, who will have to channel his inner Red Rum – it’s been 50 years since the great horse won this prize – if he’s to defy 12st on what seems sure to be testing ground.

That pair are not on my shortlist, either, and nor is Tommie Beau, but I have to give him an honourable mention given he’s already won a Southern National (Fontwell), a Durham National (Sedgefield) and a Norfolk National (Fakenham), plus was third in the Eider last time.

Trainer: Lucinda Russell. Odds: 16/1. 

This seven-year-old novice was a revelation when upped to 4m at Musselburgh last time, when equipped with a first-time visor and ridden more prominently than previously. 

He turned the Edinburgh National into a procession, powering home by 21 lengths without Derek Fox having to push many buttons. He had previously hinted that he might have a bigger performance in him when upped in trip and proved it in no uncertain manner. 

The handicapper has taken his revenge, raising him by 14lb, but Inis Oirr still gets in here off a feather weight, plus he’s had 11 weeks to catch his breath. Some will have spotted that Lucinda Russell has hit the target with only one of her past 31 runners, but her fancied runners have all been running to form. 

There’s more than a hint of Mighty Thunder about Inis Oirr. He landed this prize for the stable as a novice in 2021, having won the Edinburgh National by 20 lengths off a 15lb lower mark earlier in the campaign. In between, he had also finished runner-up in the Midlands National but Russell has resisted the extra run this time. 

William Hill make Inis Oirr a standount 16/1.

Trainer: Jamie Snowden. Odds: 8/1. 

This second-season chaser has a good wins-to-runs ratio (six from 11) and ran a screamer in last month’s Fulke Walwyn Kim Muir Chase when beating all bar handicap snip Inothewayurthinkin. 

He pulled 18 lengths clear of the third home, the progressive Whacker Clan, and the winner, of course, has since won in Grade One company at Aintree. 

Git Maker runs off a mark just 1lb higher than at Cheltenham and it’s hard to argue that he is anything but well-handicapped. 

The trip is an unknown, but he looks blessed with plenty of stamina. He seems well served by ground that is soft or deeper. 

Trainer: Fergal O’Brien. Odds: 25/1. 

Paddy Brennan called time on his career amid great scenes at Cheltenham on Wednesday, but could he be left regretting leaving a Scottish National winner behind? 

Autonomous Cloud would have been his ride here, but instead Jonathan Burke gets the gig aboard a horse who not for the first time hinted he had a decent staying prize in him when a close fourth in the Midlands National last time. 

He got into contention going smoothly at Uttoxeter before being unable to find any extra in the closing stages. The first three home had all raced closer to the pace, and there’s just a chance that an 80-day break caught up with Autonomous Cloud when it mattered most. 

Moreover, the RaceiQ data reveals Autonomous Cloud lost 2.58 lengths with his jumping, whereas the first three home all gained a bit of ground. So, there is scope for him to step up. 

If nothing else, it showed that his previous unfortunate experience, when he bled after going off joint-favourite for the Welsh National, had left no mark on him. 

Trainer: Emma Lavelle. Odds: 20/1. 

This admirable mare is surely going to cry enough soon after stringing together a sequence of excellent staying efforts, but she might just be the kind of horse who thrives on her racing. Like so many by Cloudings, she relishes a stamina test. 

She’s barely run a bad race throughout her career and in the past year has not finished out of the first three in any of her seven races, improving bit by bit. 

Her Classic Chase win at Warwick in January, when fending off Galia Des Liteaux (ran well for a long way in last week’s Grand national) was a personal best, but she’s arguably run even better in defeat since at Haydock (runner-up in the Grand National Trial) and Uttoxeter (third in the Midlands National). On both occasions, she traded odds-on in running after typically jumping well and showing loads of zest. 

Perhaps this will be one race too many for the season, perhaps it won’t. The one thing I know is that odds of 20/1 are insulting. 

Trainer: Nigel Twiston-Davies. Odds: 20/1. 

It’s fitting that the horse who carries the colours of Corbiere is a thorough stayer who has a touch of class about him. 

Routinely held up in his races over the past year, he was ridden much closer to the pace in the Midlands National last time and showed plenty of grit to fend off Mr Incredible, with the in-form My Silver Lining and likeable Autonomous Cloud behind. 

A 5lb rise will make life tougher for Beauport and I’m not sure he will confirm the Uttoxeter form, but he’s had a light campaign, is clearly in good heart and is suited by testing conditions. Expect positive tactics to again be deployed.