HORSE POWER: 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