One week after training I Am Maximus to win the Grand National and complete a third consecutive Aintree triumph, Willie Mullins arrives at the Scottish Grand National with a single entry — Road To Home — bidding to extend his dominance to three consecutive wins at Ayr as well.
This time last year Mullins had an army at Ayr. Captain Cody led home stablemate Klarc Kent for a Closutton one-two. This year, depleted by a heavy Aintree campaign, Mullins puts all his Scottish chips on one horse. That in itself is a signal. When Mullins narrows to one entry rather than flooding a race, it reflects specific confidence rather than volume strategy.
Road To Home's Form
Road To Home finished second in the Kim Muir Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival — the amateur riders' race over three miles and two furlongs. He ran prominently throughout, stayed on well and finished directly behind Ask Brewster, who is also in the Scottish National field. The Kim Muir form is relevant — it tests staying ability over an extended Cheltenham trip and horses that run well there regularly perform in the Scottish National the following month.
He carries 11st 6lb at Ayr — a manageable weight — and arrives with the freshness of a horse whose season has been measured rather than exhaustive.
The Mullins Pattern at Ayr
Mullins won the Scottish National with Macdermott in 2024 and Captain Cody in 2025. Both were specifically targeted at the race rather than coming through Aintree. Road To Home did not run at Aintree last weekend. He arrives fresh, which was precisely the preparation pattern that produced both previous Mullins wins in this race. The system that delivered back-to-back wins at Ayr is being deployed again.
The Honest Assessment
Road To Home is not at the head of the market. King Of Answers sits above him at 7/1. The field is competitive and the absence of a full Mullins string means the law of numbers is not working in his favour this year the way it was in 2024 and 2025. But a Mullins horse carrying 11st 6lb, arriving fresh off a strong Cheltenham run, trained by a handler who has won this race in each of the last two years, deserves respect at every price the market offers.
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