The count had reached nine-and-a-half in the National Hunt trainers’ championship as the field lined up for the Coral Scottish Grand National at Ayr on Saturday, with Willie Mullins ready to celebrate the first success for an overseas trainer since the 1950s. Eight minutes later, Mullins and Paul Nicholls were back on their stools and preparing for a final round at Sandown Park next Saturday after Vicente’s victory in the feature race wiped out Mullins’s six-figure lead and put Nicholls back in front by £25,000.
The trainers’ title has gone down to the final card of the season in the past, but never after a race for the championship that has veered so wildly from one side to the other. Mullins was an 8-1 chance at Christmas, when Paul Nicholls, the champion in nine of the past 10 seasons, seemed unassailable, but long-odds by the end of the Cheltenham Festival in March and 1-10 after last week’s Grand National at Aintree, where neither Mullins nor Nicholls came close to the huge first prize.
Mullins had the joint-favourite for ’s big race in Measureofmydreams, but the 8-1 chance got no further than the third fence. Mouse Morris, successful in the Grand National and its Irish equivalent in recent weeks, was represented by Folsom Blue in an attempt to record an extraordinary treble, but he departed six from home.
Vicente, however, was always travelling smoothly for Sam Twiston‑Davies towards the head of the field and it was clear with a circuit to run that he would be involved at the finish barring a fall. Seeyouatmidnight struck for home in the straight, but Twiston-Davies had him covered and Vicente showed impressive stamina to stay on strongly and beat Alvarado by two-and-three-quarter lengths.
The result left bookmakers unsure who to make favourite for the title, with Paddy Power keeping Mullins as 8-11 favourite.
“That was a result,” Nicholls said. “Brilliant ride. Just what we needed, perfect. We’ve laid Vicente out for this all season. I gave him a prep run in the four miler [at Cheltenham last month] where he lost his chance when a loose horse fell in front of him, but he learned a lot from that. It was a good experience in a big field.”
Vicente’s 14-1 success put Nicholls £25,904 ahead of Mullins before the valuable card at Sandown, when the prizes include the Grade One Celebration Chase over two miles, worth £125,000, and the £150,000 Bet365 Gold Cup Handicap Chase. The win also completed a 316-1 treble for Nicholls on the card, following victories for Vivaldi Collonges, in a handicap chase, and Le Mercurey, at 11-2, in the Grade Two Future Champion Novice Chase.
