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WINNING the Grand National on I Am Maximus last weekend was a special and unique experience.
My horse took to the track really well and the race couldn’t have gone better.
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It all went according to plan. There was a huge turnout for the homecoming, and it was special to see the support we got
there.
I am looking forward to end of the season and being able to reflect on what we have achieved, and I hope this weekend we can bring more nice prizes back home.
We are very busy at Ayr for the Scottish Grand National weekend.
In the big one, I ride Spanish Harlem (3.35pm). He has some nice form, he is a good work horse at home, and he just let us down on the track a few times.
If you go back far enough, he was beaten four lengths by Inothewayurthinkin and that form looks very good now.
Hopefully he can put it altogether to land a big pot and it would be a big help for everyone.
He’s not without a chance and things seem to be coming together for him so we shall see.
Among my other rides, I am on Sharjah who is dropping back into handicaps (1.50) after spending most of his life running in Grade 1s and being so consistent.
The step up in trip is an unknown but he has a nice way of going, he is a very gentle horse, and that will help him get the trip.
He has to shoulder 12stone so that won’t be easy but if he can start enjoying it and the ground isn’t too sticky, he will run a nice race and has the class.
I think Quai De Bourbon (4.10) is my best ride today. His
form is rock solid and he has done nothing wrong.
By Paul Townend
DERRY THE MOST IN FORM TEAM RIGHT NOW
SLIGO v Galway kick off proceedings this afternoon and the home side will be reasonably happy with their league form.
However, they really are up against it taking on this Galway team who absolutely tore through London two weeks ago.
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Galway have enough quality in every line of the field to have too much for Sligo.
Kerry welcome Cork to the Fitzgerald Stadium at 4pm and should have too much for the visitors.
Cork’s fourth place on the table is a fair and accurate indication of where they are at right now.
John Cleary is doing a good job but he will need more time.
Derry v Donegal at Celtic Park this evening looks the game of the Championship so far.
Donegal will be delighted to have won the Division 2 final and they will be playing top level football next season.
What a difference Jim McGuinness has made in a few months. He is a master at going after the opposition and finding areas where his team can expose them.
This game will go down to the wire but I believe Derry are the inform team in the country and should win here.
By Marc O’Se
Mullins on target for British title
WILLIE Mullins is on the brink of landing the British National Hunt Trainers Title for the first time and with a massive team heading across the pond to Ayr this weekend, he means business.
The dust has barely settled on his Grand National victory last week and now another one looks on the agenda.
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His leading hope in the Scottish Grand National is Spanish Harlem who will be ridden by man of the moment Paul Townend.
Wherever Mullins goes, punters will follow, and after the final declarations for the race.
Spanish Harlem’s odds crashed to 8/1 from 20/1, making him second favourite for the Ayr showdown.
The Closutton handler will be aiming to clean up at Ayr, with 18 runners invading Scotland in the hope to see off Dan Skelton and Paul Nicholls for the British trainers’ title.
There isn’t much Mullins has left to achieve.
He is already on the verge of winning an 18th champion trainer title here in Ireland, and that’s not enough.
Ladbrokes make him just 1/4 to take the crown in the UK too, and
any other result would be a real surprise. Good luck Willie!
By Nicola McGeady
*To read all the above in full blog go to sports.ladbrokes. com/news/Â
