WE’RE into the tail end of the season, but the jumps trainers’ title race seems to have saved all the excitement for the end! It was an important weekend for Willie Mullins with over £110,000 up for grabs to the winner of the Scottish National, and his landing party didn’t let him down, writes Page Fuller.

Macdermott put up a fine jumping performance,but it was the third horse, Git Maker, that caught my eye however.

He struggled to hold his position in amongst horses for the first circuit, and had to go wide to get into any sort of jumping rhythm. It wasn’t enough though, and his -10.12 lengths lost through jumping put him in a nearly impossible position when the winner was busy gaining +33.41 lengths through his jumping.

His jumping style is far better suited to softer ground than it was at Cheltenham, when you can afford to lose -4.8mph at each fence. But you’re always on the back foot when they’re going that bit quicker.

For this reason, I think he’s one to watch next season when the ground’s a bit softer in these big staying handicaps. If he still managed to get within five lengths of the winner giving that much away through his jumping, he must still be quite well treated!