Paul Nicholls and Dan Skelton insist their British trainers' title ambitions have not been derailed after Willie Mullins took a huge step by winning the Grand National with I Am Maximus

Paul Nicholls and Dan Skelton have come out fighting and insisted their ambitions of becoming Champion trainer have not been derailed by Willie Mullins' magnificent Aintree.

Mullins has made it clear he is determined to become the first Irishman since Vincent O'Brien in 1954 to win the British title and he is now in pole position thanks to I Am Maximus running away with the Randox Grand National. His prize fund is £2.87million

Such is Mullins's determination to get over the line, having been pipped at the post on his most recent attempt in 2016, he told Mail Sport there is likely to be an impact on Paul Townend's attempt to become Champion Jockey in Ireland.

Townend, who was on board I Am Maximus, is going to be required by Mullins to ride the bulk of the horses he sends to the UK in the final two weeks of the campaign, notably at Ayr next Saturday when the Coral Scottish National is the feature event. His representative, Macdermott is 6/1 favourite.

But Nicholls, who has won the title 14 times so far, warned: 'I've been in this position before, when we went into the final weeks quite a bit behind Willie and we ended up winning a couple of big races. We've got a bit to do. We need a bit of luck, but I've got lots of horses to run.'

Skelton, who trails Mullins by £62,809, insisted at Aintree on Friday that he wasn't thinking about the title but, clearly, that mind-set has changed. He will have a lot of representatives at Cheltenham's two-day fixture this week.

He said: 'Mathematically, it's all to play for and Paul isn't far behind. If we have a reasonable week and draw back level going into Saturday, it's about who has a better day at Ayr.

'And whoever that is won't have an insurmountable lead going into the following Saturday at Sandown. It could go three ways on the last day of the season.'

Meanwhile, Aintree Chief Dickon White insisted he was 'very proud' after the changes made to the National saw 21 of the 32 runners complete the course. Crucially, there were no fatalities, with all horses returning to their stables.