Paul Nicholls' Ditcheat Diaries: £3M is the target at Sandown on Saturday

• Team Ditcheat target 130 winners and £3M at Sandown

• Stay Away Fay may have a breathing problem

• Beating Mullins will only get more difficult

It's the final day of the UK National Hunt season this Saturday at Sandown and Betfair ambassador Paul Nicholls knows exactly what he wants to achieve there.

He said: "We are on 127 winners and I would like to end the season on 130. We are not far off £3M in prize money so it would be nice to reach that target this weekend. If we could crack that, I would be delighted.

"We have a great strike-rate for the season at the normal 24-25%. Let's do the best we can this week."

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Paul's Ditcheat Diary

The trainers title is in the hands of Willie Mullins but there is still plenty to play for ahead of the season finale at Sandown Park on Saturday. @PFNicholls | @BetfairBarry pic.twitter.com/ah8YVhpP1w

-- Betfair Racing (@BetfairRacing) April 22, 2024

Stay Away Fay may have breathing issue

Stay Away Fay pulled up in the Scottish National on Saturday and Paul's team are working hard to get to the root of the problem.

Paul said: "It has got to be a breathing issue with him. He has lost his way ever since he ran on Trials Day. He did not perform at Cheltenham and did not jump well on Saturday.

"There is obvioulsy an issue there somewhere and we have thought for a while that it could be to do with his breathing... I may start him over hurdles next season at Wetherby.

"There is obviously an issue there and we need to find out what it is."

Credit to Mullins for Trainers' Championship win

The Trainers' Championship is heading to Ireland and the yard of Willie Mullins whose Macdermott all but sealed it by winning the Scottish National on Saturday.

Paul paid tribute to his rival, saying: "All credit to Willie who is going to win the Trainers' Championship. He has a big team and it is a job to compete with that.

"Up against those battalions it is very difficult. It is not going to get any easier to beat him when he has such numbers [of horses] at his disposal.

"I feel a bit for Dan [Skelton]. He said he thought the first time he beat me would be when he won the Trainers' Championship. He is ahead of me at the moment, and he has had a good season, but we still have Saturday to go and I am not too far behind him."

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