Willie Mullins insists he will be taking nothing for granted in the jump trainers’ title race, despite building up a sizeable lead via an Ayr four-timer which included a crucial Coral Scottish Grand National triumph.

The Closutton powerhouse began the day £4,982 behind Dan Skelton but powered clear at the top of the table after Macdermott’s big-race success was backed up by wins for Sharjah, Chosen Witness and Quai De Bourbon.

“We’ve one hand on it, but there’s £650,000 in prize-money next weekend, so we can’t stop and we have to keep going – we’ll see you at Ffos Las on Monday,” said Mullins, who is bidding to become the first trainer from Ireland to add the British crown since the great Vincent O’Brien did it in successive years in the 1950s.

Tommy’s Oscar (15-2) gave everyone an early reminder that it was not all about just the big three trainers when kicking off proceedings with his 12th career victory in the Scotty Brand Handicap Chase for Ann Hamilton.

Mullins then struck the first significant blow when Sharjah was given a beautiful ride by Paul Townend to land the CPMS Novices’ Champion Handicap Chase at 7-1, securing £25,720 for his team.

The six-time Grade One winner over hurdles was being tried over three miles for the first time and had to shoulder top-weight of 12st, but he cruised through from the rear to hit the front approaching the last and survived a mistake at that obstacle to oblige.

Mullins told Racing TV: “I did say to David Casey ‘enter everything that’s qualified for anything’ and we’re here!

“Coming back to a handicap, he just found travelling much easier than the pace of Grade One races, so it probably felt like a bit of work for him at home just going at that pace, so that was a big help to get him home.

“The logistics of bringing 18 horses over are pretty huge and they don’t let me near that side of things, or else none of them might arrive, but my drivers and people in the office are wonderful, so I’m thankful I don’t have any of those headaches.”

Mullins came closest to grabbing Coral Scottish Champion Hurdle glory when Bialystok was produced for a strong late challenge by Townend, but they had to settle for second best behind Alan King’s Favour And Fortune.

It was still a nice £21,200 boost, with Nicholls saddling Afadil and Rubaud to finish fourth and sixth respectively, with Dan Skelton’s 11-4 favourite L’Eau Du Sud sandwiched in between.

Skelton must have had high hopes of hitting the target with Coco Mademoiselle when she surged ahead between the final two flights in the Jordan Electrics Ltd Seafield Trophy Mares’ Handicap Hurdle.

However, Czech Her Out soon emerged from the chasing pack and went on to score an emphatic victory for Lucinda Russell, leaving Coco Mademoiselle in the runner-up spot and Saylavee third for Mullins.

Macdermott then helped Mullins to take command by getting the better of Surrey Quest in a thrilling finish to the Scottish Grand National, a narrow triumph under the trainer’s nephew Danny which was worth a whopping £112,540 to his connections.

“It’s fantastic and I’m delighted Danny did it,” said Mullins. “Well done Pat Gallagher for letting me bring the horse here and all my other owners, plus David Casey back at home, who plans all this and puts all the entries in.

“I’d say we’ve a bit to go yet, there’s still a lot of prize-money to play for, but we’re in pole position and it looks very good.”

Mullins had lost two of his six runners early on, but the others all did their bit to boost his tally, with Klarc Kent, Ontheropes and Spanish Harlem ending up fourth, fifth and sixth for another £18,580.

Chosen Witness rammed home the advantage when edging out the Skelton-trained Major Fortune for a 16-1 win in the Let Good Times Roll With Stagecoach Novices’ Handicap Hurdle.

Quai De Bourbon then justified odds of 8-11 when galloping on strongly to take the Tennent’s Novices’ Hurdle by six lengths.

There was a minor disappointment for the Mullins team when 11-10 favourite C’est Ta Chance could only manage fourth behind Gordon Elliott’s Jazz De Cotte in the concluding Golf Inn Prestwick Open National Hunt Flat Race but spirits will still have been high on the journey home.

Paddy Power had taken the decision to pay out on a Mullins title triumph before Friday’s card at Ayr and their spokesman Paul Binfield said: “We thought it was all over yesterday, it probably is now.”

Arbroath and Ayr were forced to settle for a point apiece as the cinch Championship strugglers played out a goalless draw at Gayfield Stadium.

The hosts went closest in a tight first half when Leighton McIntosh headed against a post, but it was Ayr who had the greater share of the play.

The visitors stepped up a gear after the break and Ahkeem Rose spurned a good chance when he shot at Ali Adams.

Anton Dowds then fired over before Francis Amartey forced another save from Adams and Logan Chalmers hit the goal frame.

Arbroath felt they should have had a penalty in the closing stages after a challenge on Mark Stowe but nothing was given.

Lewis Vaughan scored a hat-trick as Scottish Championship leaders Raith clawed back a 4-4 draw against 10-man Ayr in a thrilling contest.

Aiden McGeady opening the scoring in the 28th minute, slotting the ball into the bottom corner to hand Ayr the lead, but Raith responded a minute later when Sam Stanton went around the goalkeeper to roll the ball home.

Ayr were soon reduced to 10 men when Sean McGinty was sent off in the 43rd minute and Vaughan quickly took advantage to put Rovers in front two minutes later with a header into the top corner.

Despite their numerical disadvantage, the Honest Men equalised 10 minutes into the second half when Ben Dempsey fired home from outside of the box and Logan Chalmers put them back in front in the 63rd minute, only for Vaughan to level in the 81st minute from the penalty spot.

The drama continued as Ahkeem Rose restored Ayr’s lead four minutes later, but Vaughan had the final say with a goal in stoppage time to salvage a point for the leaders.

Nick Alexander enjoyed another memorable afternoon at one of his “lucky” tracks as he saddled four of the seven winners at Ayr on Wednesday.

The Kinneston handler is a regular visitor to the winner’s circle at the Scottish venue and has trained more winners at Ayr than at any course across the length and breadth of Britain.

He made a flying start to the track’s latest fixture, with point-to-point recruit Ozzy Cosmo (14-1) making a successful debut under rules under Bruce Lynn in the curtain-raising novices’ hurdle, a victory which set the tone for a profitable day.

“I hoped they would run well, but I thought the ground might be a bit soft to be honest. It’s very good of them to put on an extra fixture and I’m delighted,” said Alexander.

“I had a five-timer at Ayr once and it seems to be a lucky racecourse for us. I just love bringing horses here because it’s a such a big, fair track and it is reasonably local to us.

“I’m over the moon really, the day couldn’t have gone better.”

Following Ozzy Cosmo’s success, Alexander swiftly doubled up with 9-1 shot Beat The Retreat, whose rider Danny McMenamin also steered the trainer’s Cream Of The West (9-2) to victory later on the card.

The four-timer was completed by the Sean Quinlan-ridden Artic Row, who obliged at 2-1 in the penultimate race.

Alexander added: “Ozzy Cosmo is a very nice and we just hoped he’d run well. It wasn’t the deepest novice and he’s won it nicely. He’s going to be a three-mile chaser if he’s lucky, so we’re delighted he’s been able to win over two miles over hurdles.

“Beat The Retreat was a little disappointing last time, but it was very deep ground at Kelso that day and it was two-mile-six, whereas today he was back to two-mile-two on slightly better ground.

“The form of Cream Of The West’s last race at Hexham (finished third) has worked out very well, so we were delighted to see him get off the mark, and Artic Row has improved for the step up in trip and fences, which is great.

“They were all sort of entitled to win if everything fell right, but I thought we were going to have a winner or two at Musselburgh earlier in the week and we were nowhere near it, so it’s swings and roundabouts.”

David Wotherspoon scored twice as in-form Inverness moved out of the Scottish Championship relegation spots with a 3-1 win over play-off chasing Ayr.

Wotherspoon opened the scoring in the 32nd minute with a close-range finish after Nathan Shaw’s effort fell into his path.

The forward added a second 11 minutes later with a deflected effort, taking his goal tally to three in as many games, before Billy McKay converted from the penalty spot on the stroke of half-time after Charlie Gilmour was fouled in the box by Paddy Reading.

Ayr pulled a goal back in the 60th minute courtesy of Jamie Murphy’s penalty following a foul on Ahkeem Rose, but could not prevent Inverness from extending their unbeaten run to five matches.

Ruari Paton’s leveller deep in stoppage time rescued a point as Queen’s Park snatched a 2-2 draw at Ayr.

Anton Dowds’s double had given the hosts a 2-0 lead in the first half to put them in control.

Alex Bannon pulled a goal back when he headed in Jack Spong’s corner after 58 minutes.

Then, in the fifth minute of stoppage time, Paton finished from close range to level.

Julie Camacho’s Significantly overcame a troubled passage to take a big pot in the Virgin Bet Ayr Gold Cup Handicap.

The gelding was rolling the dice again after just missing out on the Portland Handicap at the St Leger meeting exactly a week ago.

The race was a return to six furlongs and at several points it seemed that luck had deserted him once again as his progress was abruptly stopped by other horses in the 24-runner handicap.

He was brought almost to a halt as another horse crossed his path in the final furlong, but showed great tenacity under Joe Fanning to renew his attack and lunge at the line to win by a neck from Ramazan and justify 8-1 favouritism.

Logan Chalmers hit an early brace as Ayr secured an impressive 5-2 win away at Queen’s Park in the cinch Championship.

Last season’s runners-up have been slow out of the blocks this season but stormed past their hosts at Hampden Park.

Chalmers broke the deadlock after just six minutes as he scored directly from a corner and doubled up for the night by rounding off a counter-attack.

Ruan Paton halved the deficit, but Ayr were out of sight by the break after Ahkeem Rose and Jamie Murphy struck.

The hosts pulled another back through Barry Hepburn, although any thoughts of an unlikely comeback were extinguished a minute later when Anton Dowds grabbed his first goal for the Honest Men.

Partick Thistle cruised to a 4-0 win at Ayr to go second in the Scottish Championship.

Steven Lawless’ brace along with goals from Brian Graham and Tomi Adeloye eased the visitors to a comfortable victory.

Graham’s close-range finish from Kerr McInroy’s pass opened the scoring after 73 seconds and the visitors never looked back.

They doubled their lead 11 minutes after the break when Lawless drilled in from 25 yards.

He made it 3-0 after 67 minutes when his deflected shot from the edge of the area found a way past Charlie Albinson.

Lawless then turned provider for Adeloye with 11 minutes left when the former Ayr man scored with his first touch.

Franny Amartey’s early goal proved enough to give Ayr a 1-0 win over Inverness in their cinch Championship match at Somerset Park, where frustrated Caley head coach Billy Dodds was sent from the dugout.

The Honest Men, who lost 3-1 at Morton last weekend, went ahead in the eighth minute through Amartey after good build-up play involving Sam Ashford.

Ayr captain Sean McGinty then fired a long-range effort over before Caley threatened when Charlie Gilmour’s shot was saved by Charlie Albinson.

Inverness defender Daniel Devine saw his header from Cameron Harper’s free-kick pushed over the crossbar.

Luis Longstaff shot wide from 20-yards just before the break – with Caley head coach Dodds sent from the dugout by the referee as frustrations boiled over.

The visitors – who lost their league opener at home to Queen’s Park following three defeats in the Viaplay Cup – almost equalised just after the hour when Nathan Shaw’s header from Jake Davidson’s cross struck the far post.

Ayr substitute Aiden McGeady had a late effort bounce just wide and Olly Pendlebury’s long-range effort was tipped over as the hosts closed out a first league win.

Morton opened their Championship campaign with an entertaining 3-1 win over Ayr at Cappielow.

A goalless first period was soon forgotten when Oliver Pendlebury fired the visitors ahead in the 51st minute.

But the strike stirred Morton into action as they responded through Robbie Crawford, Robbie Muirhead and Steven Boyd in a 25-minute spell.

Muirhead’s goal came from the penalty spot after George Oakley had been fouled by Sean McGinty.