Ayr/Newbury – Saturday 2nd April

It’s been a favourite backers benefit of late, and no finer example of that was on the first day of Ayr’s Scottish Grand National meeting on Friday, as all seven races were won by the market leader.

While, the race for the Jumps Trainer’s Championship is something that will be a narrative for the remaining three weeks of the season, and it was advantage Dan Skelton at Ayr on Friday, as he saddled the winners of the two most valuable races on the card with Beakstown and Get A Tonic.

The Skeltons will be hoping to come away with plenty of the Scottish loot again on Saturday with West Cork in the Coral Scottish Champion Hurdle at 2.25 and also the likely improver Ashtown Lad, who steps up to extreme trips in the Coral Scottish Grand National at 3.35.

Having sided with Anna Bunina in the Coral Scottish Champion Hurdle at 8/1 each-way earlier in the week, it was nice to see her declared with Sean Bowen on board, and also the ground has very much come in her favour. 5/1 best price with Paddy Power is what you’re looking at if you want to hop on now, and I wouldn’t be against backing her at that price.

In the big one, the Coral Scottish Grand National at 3.35, Christian Williams will have liked what he saw from his Ayr raider on Friday, as Stringtoyourbow absolutely hosed up in the closing race, and will only serve to increase hopes of yet another big Saturday prize – as he saddles both Kitty’s Light and Win My Wings.

It’s fiendishly hard to split them, and Win My Wings was simply a revelation in the Eider at Newcastle, and she has to have a live chance again. But, given his uncanny ability to pinpoint a long-term target for a horse, and very rarely miss the bullseye, Christian Williams has surely aimed Kitty’s Light at this race all season long.

Mightily unlucky not to win the Bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown Park last season, Kitty’s Light warmed up for a tilt at this with an eye-catching effort behind stablemate Cap Du Nord at Kempton Park last time. The ground has come right, 4m+ will unlock more improvement in this extraordinary six-year-old, and at 13/2 each-way with Paddy Power for 6 places, Kitty’s Light is a very solid proposition.

For bigger price punters, you could do much worse than back One More Fleurie at 14/1 each-way with Paddy Power for those 6 places also. Ian Williams’ likable prominent racer won the novices’ handicap chase on the card last year, and looks to have been teed up for a big run here, after he ran well for a long way in the Ultima Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.

Down at Newbury on Saturday, we are very much dealing with spring ground on Friday’s evidence, and it will be drying further on Saturday. This will be right up the street of Royaume Uni in the Play Pick6 At BetVictor Novices’ Handicap Hurdle at 1.35, who is a decent each-way bet at 4/1 with Paddy Power.

Coming into this on a hat-trick, Punctuation will be a tough nut to crack, but Gary Moore’s classy ex-flat handicapper Royaume Uni can find more improvement over this intermediate trip, having won easily stepping up in trip for the first time over hurdles at Fontwell Park last time.