Scottish trainer Lucinda Russell trains in the beautiful Kinross countryside half an hour north of Edinburgh with her partner Peter Scudamore. Together they have evolved into the most successful racing yard in the Scottish jump racing.
At this juncture in time, Lucinda has trained over seven hundred winners including several graded races, and winners at the Cheltenham and Aintree Festivals.
Her biggest achievement thus far was training One For Arthur to win the Grand National in 2017. Here are five horses I believe you should be following from the Lucinda Russell stable for the 2022/23 season.
Ahoy Senor
The Cheltenham Gold Cup became an even more realistic port of call for “Lu and Scu” back in April after Ahoy Senor turned around his Cheltenham form with Bravemansgame and L'Homme Presse, and landed the Mildmay Novices' Chase at Aintree.
The former Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury will probably be the next logical step for the gutsy seven-year-old on his journey to Prestbury Park.
You can check out Ahoy Senor’s latest Cheltenham betting odds here.
🏴 Ahoy Senor is a Grade One winner over fences
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) April 8, 2022
A sparkling performance from @lucindavrussell's stable star who retains his unbeaten record at @AintreeRaces under Derek Fox, slamming his rivals in the Betway Mildmay Novices' Chase 🏆 #RandoxGrandNational pic.twitter.com/DNaWMIue9A
Corach Rambler
Corach Rambler is on the Grand National antepost radar of many a pundit, including myself, and I instantly formed that opinion when I saw him return into the winner’s enclosure after taking a 3m Novice Chase at Aintree on Old Roan Day 2021.
He subsequently went on to earn Derek Fox the “Ride Of The Season” after Fox persevered with him for the entire duration of the Ultima which he eventually won going away up the hill.
Russell will definitely be targeting him at the big staying chases this season and with any luck he’ll take the biggest one of them all next April.
🏴 A winner for Scotland in the Ultima
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) March 15, 2022
Corach Rambler thunders home to land the Ultima for the Grand National winning combination of @lucindavrussell & Derek Fox - some ride too 👏 @CheltenhamRaces #CheltenhamFestival pic.twitter.com/0LwsQlAlY5
Corrigeen Rock
A former Irish point winner, the Russell team believe Corrigeen Rock is capable of doing extremely well over fences this season and he duly won his first handicap at Kelso recently after fluffing his lines first time up at Perth.
With the five-year-old likely to get three miles, the options are limitless for this son of Westerner and he’s going to be a popular pick with punters who are betting on horse races online with us.
It all went awry on chasing debut for Corrigeen Rock but the five-year-old makes no mistake on his second outing over the larger obstacles with a battling victory in the Beauchamp Estates Handicap Chase for the Derek Fox and @lucindavrussell team 🥇 pic.twitter.com/ePqSRTNGHb
— Kelso Racecourse (@KelsoRacecourse) October 22, 2022
Haute Estime
The mare Haute Estime didn’t really get the rub of the green on her chase debut at Kelso in early October, slipping at one point and then stumbling two from home.
If she can iron out those little blemishes then she looks like a decent prospect going forward.
She finished third at 100-1 in a Grade 1 contest at Aintree last April so she is clearly a talented horse that just needs to be slowly nurtured along.
Experience over fences was key in the the Racing TV For Free Novices' Limited Handicap Chase @KelsoRacecourse as The Vollan (9-2) outmuscles Haute Estime for @LauraMorganRace and Brian Hughes pic.twitter.com/qdHyZguGrC
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) October 2, 2022
Your Own Story
Your Own Story is out of Dylan Thomas, a bloodline Russell regularly homes in on.
Winner of two Irish points, he won over hurdles at Carlisle in March and finished well in fifth place on his handicap debut at Ayr's Scottish National meeting.
This season he will be tackling the novice handicaps, and those contests that are run on galloping tracks over three miles will be there for the taking.
What a race! 👏
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) February 15, 2022
Charm Offensive gets off the mark over hurdles with a thrilling victory at @ayrracecourse, nosing ahead close home to score for the @CoFarrell20 and @kinneston team 🏆 pic.twitter.com/Fro6DF13nx
*Credit for all of the photos in this article belongs to AP Photo*
FIRST PUBLISHED: 24th October 2022