Horse Power: Major Dundee can win the Scottish Grand National at Ayr

can win the Coral Scottish Grand National Handicap Chase (GBB Race) (3.35pm) at Ayr on Saturday afternoon.

The Grade Three feature would normally be run the week after next Saturday’s Randox Grand National at Aintree Racecourse. But with Easter the traditional home of the Irish Grand National and falling later this year, the Scottish version takes centre stage before the big one.

And in the colours of the late triple-Grand National winning owner Trevor Hemmings Alan King’s Major Dundee may land a poignant success before Cloth Cap and Deisa Aba try to do the same at Aintree next week.

Hemmings also saw Vicente win the Scottish Grand National twice in 2016 and 2017, while Scottish-born trainer King also took the Ayr feature with Godsmejudge in 2013.

And Major Dundee has a similar profile to both Vicente in his first success and Godsmejudge in being a seven-year-old novice chaser.

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He won his first two starts over fences earlier this season, scoring at Fakenham over 2m5f before stepping up to three miles and landing a second success at Bangor in December.

He lost his unbeaten record over fences when second to Fuji Flight at the start of last month.

But Major Dundee looks a highly-promising staying chaser. He is yet to tackle this sort of extreme trip but he promises to improve again for it.

The good ground should be ideal and he looks capable of giving King a second victory in the Scottish National.

As ever in Nationals there are several in with chances and the likes of Olly Murphy’s – if he cuts out the slight errors in his jumping; the Dan Skelton-trained ; and – for Scottish trainer Iain Jardine – could all go close.

Merseyside-born trainer Donald