Straight to the Gold Cup for Corach Rambler before Aintree

‘It would be amazing if he could run well in that which would set him up perfectly for Aintree’.

Grand National winner Corach Rambler will head straight for the Gold Cup at Cheltenham before aiming to repeat his Aintree heroics in April.

Last seen running an encouraging race to be third in the Betfair Chase, Lucinda Russell feels he would have too much weight to carry in the Ultima at Cheltenham, the race he won prior to success in the National, so therefore the Gold Cup represents a better route.

“Corach Rambler is in flying form and seems very well in himself. He’ll go straight to the Gold Cup and we’ll look to get a racecourse gallop into him before that like we did last year,” she told William Hill.

“Everyone knows how much I love him and it would be very special if he could be competitive in another Grand National. Over Christmas we watched back the race last year and it was amazing how much he loved it and how well he jumped. That is the main target and, while I don’t like to call the Gold Cup a prep, that’s sort of what we’re treating it as.

“He’ll have to carry so much weight in the Ultima and we just feel the Gold Cup will be a better race for him. It would be amazing if he could run well in that which would set him up perfectly for Aintree.”

Ahoy Senor has recovered from a heel problem
Ahoy Senor has recovered from a heel problem (Tim Goode/PA)

She may have two runners in the blue riband with Ahoy Senor possibly lining up. He is likely to have another run first, however.

“Ahoy Senor is in great form and has fully recovered from his sore heel after Newbury. We’ve sorted that out and he’s been doing really well at home since,” said Russell.

“The aim looks the Cotswold Chase at Cheltenham and, if we don’t go there, we’ll look at the Denman Chase at Newbury – a track we know he goes well at. The race at Lingfield (Fleur De Lys Chase) could have been an option, but I’m not keen on running him on very heavy ground.

“Providing one of those races goes well, it will most likely be the Gold Cup next. He has got an entry in the Ryanair and we could look at that, but I’d be leaning towards the Gold Cup at this stage.”

Russell, who feels she possibly ran Giovinco back too quickly in the Kauto Star Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day and may go to Sandown or Cheltenham next, also passed on a good word for the mare, Apple Away.

“She’s a bit of a dark horse and I’m quietly confident she might run quite well in the Brown Advisory. She’ll head to Warwick next weekend and I’ve been really happy with her at home since her last run,” she said.

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