HORSE POWER: Shout it from the rooftops! Thriller of a scrap for the trainers' crown is going to the wire

It's the time of year when football managers, in the thick of a title race, sit in front of TV cameras and are economical with their views.

‘We’re just concentrating on what we do,’ they tell you, even though you both know the opposite is true. They are all aware what steps their rivals are making, who they have to play and what fixtures on the run to the line are fraught with danger.

The Premier League is so compelling this season because three giants are all matching strides approaching the final furlong: the odds-on favourite, Manchester City, might have just poked their nose in front but their two pursuers, Arsenal and Liverpool, still have plenty to give.

You won’t be able to move in the coming weeks for headlines trumpeting this absorbing contest but the same should be true, too, for racing following three remarkable days on Merseyside when three men emerged from the Randox Grand National festival with the potential to be Champion Trainer.

It will be a crying shame if racing doesn’t seize upon the unique situation where Willie Mullins, Paul Nicholls and Dan Skelton are ready to throw the kitchen sink and more at their attempt to come out on top, to draw in inquisitive sports enthusiasts who love drama and rivalries. Shout about this battle from the rooftops.

How many new fans became hooked on Formula One on the back of the absorbing end to the 2021 season, when Max Verstappen pipped Lewis Hamilton in the final laps of the final race in Abu Dhabi? When history is on the line and protagonists are giving it everything have got, it draws you in.

And you should be drawn in. Plenty regard Mullins as the Manchester City of jump racing, with his stable full of equine stars, and his fortunes mirrored that of Pep Guardiola last Saturday, pulling off a big win to jump from third to first.

Mullins had told this observer that a title win for his stable would only be possible if he was successful in the Grand National but talk about hitting the bullseye: I Am Maximus galloped all the way to the line and ensured a £450,000 deficit was overturned in a flash.

So now we approach boiling point. Mullins will only have one runner at Cheltenham at its two-day finale meeting, which starts today, presenting Skelton – who is second in the table, £52,807 behind – and Nicholls to wrestle back the deficit.

Asked last Friday at Aintree how much he was thinking about becoming champion for the first time, Skelton said he wasn’t thinking about it all and “what will be, will be” – the tone of his answer and his body language, a bit like all those football managers, told you something different entirely.

Skeleton is a ferociously ambitious to become Champion in the same way his mentor, Nicholls, was in 2005. The title race in which he became embroiled with Martin Pipe back then was staggering, in terms of the lengths the stables were going to for prize money.

Pipe, who was then king of the hill, ran one horse called Commercial Flyer three times in three days – twice at Perth before heading down to Sandown, 472 miles away – to accrue every possible penny. It was unedifying, the pressure getting to everyone on the final day at Sandown.

There won’t be any repeats of that nature, thankfully, but there is every reason to believe the victory margin will be as close as the £71,000 that separated Pipe and Nicholls 19 years ago, particularly as he, Skelton and Mullins have so many good horses to run.

Ayr on Saturday, on the eight-race Coral Scottish National card, will be crucial and Mullins has shown his intent by making 33 entries. So, too, has Nicholls, who may run his brilliant novice chaser Stay Away Faye in the four-mile contest.

Pounds and pennies will be crucial but, beyond that, history is what matters and the strands around this narrative are compelling. Mullins is bidding to become the first Irishman since Vincent O’Brien in 1954 to lift the crown; Nicholls would equal Pipe’s record of 15 gongs if he is successful.

Skelton, meanwhile, is aiming for his first and to show how big that feat would be, only nine men have held it in the last 50 years: whoever gets across the line will have left nothing behind and will absolutely deserve the honour.

Isn’t that how it should be? Every so often, a title race explodes that is so unexpected but, equally, so compelling that it must be followed to its conclusion. If you will enjoy Guardiola versus Jurgen Klopp and Mikel Arteta, you should savour Mullins versus Nicholls and Skelton.

Three men with horses that can run like the wind, all of whom have their dreams and desires. For one of them, it will be their time.

Much teeth-gnashing followed the end of the Cheltenham Festival, with a chuntering about attendances dropping and interest potentially dwindling. With that, then, figures published by the Racecourse Association on Tuesday make for interesting reading.

It has emerged that attendances for Q1 of 2024 have risen by 2.5 per cent, with 681,476 spectators heading to the track for the period January 1 to March 31. What makes this figure so significant is that there were a significant amount of abandonments in that period, too.

Kelso, up in the Scottish Borders, record their highest attendance for a fixture since 2015 on March 2. Having attended that day, it was easy to see why this beautiful course was such a draw – but there are so many up and down the country. If you haven’t tried a day at the races, you really should.

This column argued last week that Aintree had overtaken Cheltenham as the Premier jumps fixture in Britain and that view was only solidified after spending three days on track last week. A hat tip must also be given to the powers that be at the course for the tweaks they made.

When the Grand National used to be run at 4pm, in the not too distant past, the course would empty immediately after and the concluding two races on the card were often damp squibs. Not this time, however, with the Grade One Maghull Novices Chase demanding punters stay around.

It was won by the favourite, Found A Fifty, and the noise that greeted the gelding getting up in the final strides was on a par with what you would find at Goodison or Anfield. To stay relevant and popular, you must be innovative. Aintree, absolutely, have an executive who fit that bill.