Willie Mullins left Ayr with one hand on the British trainers' championship trophy on a day when not much went right for his two main title rivals. However, in true modest fashion, he described himself as being in no better position than "pole position" going into the season finale at Sandown in just one week.
Mullins' earnings in Britain for the season broke the £3 million mark and gave him a £182,195 lead over Dan Skelton after a spectacular 4,462-1 four-timer and a haul of £209,137 at the Scottish venue on Saturday. Paul Nicholls must close a £279,671 deficit to win a 15th title by the end of play on Saturday.
In the £200,000 Coral Scottish Grand National, Mullins entered six horses; however, just a short time after the start, Mr Incredible pulled himself up just before the first fence, where We'llhavewan unseated Kieran Callaghan. As a result, Mullins' field of six horses was reduced to four.
At the other end of the race, however, things would be very different. The judge's decision to award Macdermott the victory over Surrey Quest in a thrilling finish gave Mullins £112,540, while stablemates Klarc Kent, Ontheropes, and Spanish Harlem combined to finish fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively, nearly cancelling out Skelton's earnings for the entire day at Ayr and Bangor.
After Paul Townend rode a masterful waiting race and then delivered former crack two-mile hurdler Sharjah to win the novice handicap chase over 3m, Mullins, who had started the day just under £5,000 behind Dan Skelton, was already back at the top of the championship. At that point, Ireland's enduring champion became the first Irish-based trainer to win the British jumps title since Vincent O'Brien 70 years earlier, according to Paddy Power, who paid out Mullins' supporters on Friday.
The 9-4 market leader Sans Bruit and the 100-30 joint-favourite Larchmont Lass were easily defeated, preventing Paul Nicholls from taking advantage. Meanwhile, Skelton's day was summed up when Major Fortune lost the 3m½f novice handicap hurdle to the Mullins-trained Chosen Witness by the narrowest of margins.
Next Saturday at Sandown, there will be seven races with a total prize pool of £675,000, an amount that dwarfs the money Mullins, Skelton, and Nicholls will be competing for during the week. However, Mullins aimed not to give any of his opponents a chance to gain any kind of momentum after I Am Maximus had defeated him handily at Aintree a week prior. As a result, he is now 1-20 to complete this historic feat, with Skelton out to 8-1 and the defending champion Nicholls having a 16-1 chance.