'It was a phenomenal performance' - Toby Lawes dreaming of Aintree after Surrey Quest's narrow Scottish National defeat

Trainer Toby Lawes is already looking ahead to next year's Grand National with Surrey Quest following his agonising defeat in the Scottish National on Saturday.

The seven-year-old, who landed the Mandarin Chase at Newbury on his first start of the season in December, was beaten a nose by the Willie Mullins-trained Macdermott at Ayr.

"We were over the moon with how he ran," said Lawes. "It had been the plan to go for a race like that for a long time if he was rated high enough, even before the Mandarin Chase. I thought it was a phenomenal performance. I'm delighted for the owners and am grateful to have the opportunity to train this horse. 

"Even at the time of the Mandarin Chase, when we were doing our race planning, there were so many cool races for him to run in. He's clearly of that calibre and it would be great to run in the Grand National at some stage if we can get there organically. We'd probably have to win a race on the way to get in, so we'll just see how we go."

Toby Lawes: near miss in Scottish NationalCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

As for starting points for the season, the trainer added: "The Becher looks like an option, and there's a good handicap over three and a half miles at Cheltenham in the autumn as well. There's also the Scottish National again if the Grand National doesn't happen. It's a huge race and it would be magnificent to try to go one better next year.

"I've always felt if you have a horse capable of running in the Grand National then you probably should [run them in it]. We'll have to have that as an aim. That will be on the cards as something to look towards and to have in the back of our minds."

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