Hot on the heels of the Grand National at Aintree, Scotland’s version takes centre of at least the jumps stage this weekend.

The flat season is kicking right into gear now with the Classics round the corner, but we still have to settle this jumps betting argument at Ayr first.

There’s £200,000 up for grabs here, the field taking on four miles and 27 fences as they look to emulate last year’s winning 4/1 joint-favourite Kitty’s Light.

It’s a quality staying field once again, these being the six we’ve picked out against the field:

Main Contenders

Anglers Crag

At a perfectly backable price is Brian Ellison’s Anglers Crag.

The nine-year-old had already won three in a row for the yard after joining from David Pipe when he stepped up in trip and grade to score well in the Eider Chase for us at Newcastle.

Up to that point he’d gone up from a mark of 106 to one of 126. Since his Gosforth Park win he’s up another 8lbs which is more than reasonable. If he’s beaten, it won’t be because of his handicap mark but that race may have taken plenty out of him.

Ballygrifincottage

The Skelton horse has been well fancied this week and certainly makes our shortlist too.

He won the first of his six chases but hasn’t scored over the larger obstacles since. That said, he has been improving and was a good second at Sandown last month.

He’s going steadily up in the weights for not winning, which isn’t ideal, but he could take a jump forward for going over this extreme trip for the first time.

Git Maker

This is the horse for money and the one producing most tips in the racing media.

Jamie Snowden’s gelding is 3-7 over fences now and is clearly going places as a staying chaser.

He was a strong second at Cheltenham in the Kim Muir and clearly it’s possible that there’s more to come now he’s up in trip, but that was a tiring race and he’ll need to be fresh and at his best here.

Macdermott

Willie Mullins has a strong chance in this race with Macdermott his best runner according to the odds.

Second-favourite at the time of writing, the six-year-old may be inexperienced but he’s improving at a rate of knots.

After falling when favourite at Limerick, Macdermott won easily at Fairyhouse from Better Times Ahead. Up 12lbs in the handicap he will need to step up again on that, something that looks eminently possible.

Mr Incredible

Also representing the Mullins yard and perhaps not getting the limelight he deserves is Mr Incredible.

Form figures of 23U-2U don’t inspire huge confidence, but that doesn’t tell the whole story.

He was third at last year’s Cheltenham Festival before unseating when only 14/1 for the Grand National. This year he was an excellent second in the Midlands National before unseating once more at Aintree last week at 10/1.

We’s say he has the profile, but he lasted until the 15th fence seven days ago in the National after taking on 4m2f on heavy at Uttoxeter, so you’d have to question his freshness.

Mr Vango

Eight-year-old Mr Vango is a very interesting contender for Sara Bradstock and Ben Jones.

At this age he has the sort of life experience to cope with this event, but with only three chases and seven rules races under his belt there is undoubtedly at lot more to come from him which we’ve kept in mind when assessing his ability.

Before running third to Corbett’s Cross at Cheltenham last month Mr Vango was an ever so easy winner over 3m6f at Exeter.

He has the stamina and the class and, overall, may prove to be very well treated at the weights.

Summary

A tough one to solve, as ever in a competitive marathon event.

We have to decide whether those who have experience in major long distance races are still sufficiently fresh to go again, while also pondering whether those who haven’t are even up to the task.

With that, it’s safe to stay with the numbers and they’re telling us that the best handicapped animal is likely to be MR VANGO.

Though he didn’t do the business at Cheltenham it wasn’t the trip that got him beat. Before that he looked a horse of some extreme promise and he could fulfill that here.

Eider Chase winner Anglers Crag is on a roll too, while Ballygrifincottage is overpriced for the Skelton team.