Kitty's Light heads market as marathon specialist Williams eyes repeat Scottish Grand National triumph

It is "all systems go" as Christian Williams eyes a second Coral Scottish Grand National triumph with hot favourite Kitty's Light and the progressive Cap Du Nord.

No trainer has won back-to-back runnings of the Ayr showpiece with different horses since Ken Oliver struck with The Spaniard in 1971 and Young Ash Leaf in 1972, but South Wales-based Williams, a long-distance specialist who has won the Welsh Grand National, Midlands Grand National and two Eider Chases in recent seasons, has two chances of a repeat victory in a £200,000 contest he took with the now-retired Win My Wings last year.

His pair were among 60 put in the race on Tuesday and the trainer said: "It's all systems go for both entries. These sorts of races do seem to suit us for some reason. We're excited, we won the race last year and we made plans at the start of the year to try to go back and to keep the trophy in Wales." 

Kitty's Light heads the market at 4-1 with the sponsor after finishing second last year and taking advantage of a drop in the handicap to land the Eider Chase at Newcastle in February. The seven-year-old was put up 8lb for that success and Williams said: "He seems in good form but he's back to a mark he's very competitive off but struggles to win off. If he bumps into one who's well handicapped in the race it's an issue. 

"He looked well handicapped when he won at Newcastle and took advantage of that. He won't be able to jump like that at Ayr, it will be a more competitive race with more runners. But the better ground at this time of year does seem to suit him. He acted round there last year and got into a good rhythm after a mistake at the second fence and picked them all up in the straight but bumped into a freak in Win My Wings. A similar run would be nice."

Cap Du Nord, a winner at Ascot in February, is set to bypass the 3m5f bet365 Gold Cup, in which he has finished fifth for the past two years.

Cap Du Nord: won over three miles at Ascot in February Credit: Mark Cranham

"We think this race might suit him," Williams said. "He could be the one open to improvement. He's run okay in the bet365 Gold Cup but he's looked more of a stayer this season. We've had this in mind for a few months now and he won well at Ascot. He's never won off a mark of 130 or above and he's rated 132 but we're hoping the track and trip might bring a bit of improvement."

Scottish Grand National (Ayr, April 22)

Coral: 4 Kitty’s Light, 8 Temptationinmilan, 10 Corach Rambler, Le Milos, Mr Incredible, Stumptown, 11 Malina Girl, Your Own Story, 12 Flower Of Scotland, Galvin, Our Power, 14 Empire Steel, Monbeg Genius, Tile Tapper, Truckers Lodge, 16 Chemical Energy, Dusart, Flash Collonges, Hill Sixteen, Mister Coffey, Revels Hill, Streets Of Doyen, The Goffer,  20 bar

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