Gold Cup and Betfair Chase on Corach Rambler agenda

Randox Grand National winner Corach Rambler will have two high profile Grade One targets on his agenda this season before he bids to defend his Aintree crown in April.

It is almost seven months since he crossed the line in front in the 175th staging of the Randox Grand National at Aintree and is on course to defend his title in 2024 and as he bids to try and emulate the last dual winner of the world’s greatest steeplechase – Tiger Roll in 2018 and 2019.

But trainer Lucinda Russell has revealed that before then, the nine-year-old is set to take aim at the Betfair Chase later this month as well as the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup in March.

Corach Rambler’s victory at Aintree was a second in the Randox Grand National for Russell and her partner and assistant trainer Peter Scudamore, following on from One For Arthur in 2017. Both horses were partnered to victory by stable jockey Derek Fox.

With Corach Rambler also being a dual Cheltenham Festival winner, having landed the Ultima Handicap Chase in 2022 and 2023, a return to the Home of Jump Racing for a possible tilt at chasing’s Blue Riband – the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup – is also on the agenda for 2024.

Opening the doors to her Arlary House Stable in Kinross, Scotland, for the annual Randox Grand National winner’s stable visit organised by The Jockey Club, Russell said: “It’s always been a dream - I love the Grand National, I love Liverpool and love everything connected with it. From when I was a little girl watching Red Rum, I always dreamt of winning the Grand National.

“It was quite a military plan when we won it with One For Arthur – getting him there was very exact. To then come back with Corach, who is a different horse in many ways, including that he was cheaper and was bought after lockdown. He was a horse that kept surprising us because at first I thought he was just going to be a point-to-pointer, but he just improved and improved.

“We thought it was a bonus when he won his novice hurdles and then he went chasing and won his first chase at Aintree, where he remains unbeaten. When we schooled over an imitation Aintree fence, he immediately understood how to do it.

“Scu adores the horse and to have a horse like him running in the National was fantastic. To win it again – I don’t want to say easily but he hit the front just before the last and was well in front on the run-in. Derek’s timing on him was perfect.

“He does tend to look around a bit when he is in front but he stuck there and we don’t know how much he had in hand so that is why this season we are also looking at other things as well.”

The “other things” that Russell refers to are set to include an outing in the first Grade One chase of the season in just over a fortnight, the Betfair Chase at Haydock Park on Saturday 25th November.

Corach Rambler has already made one appearance so far this season when fifth in a limited handicap chase at Kelso on October 28th and Russell continued: “He and Ahoy Senor are the same in that they both need their first run of the season.

“I think it is because they are both so good that the gallops at home are not really enough of a test for them so they need to have a run. It is only November and it is not really about just now – it’s about March and April.

“I was delighted to have got the run into Corach Rambler. He definitely needed it. He is back now and will have a strict regime now ahead of his next race to get him a bit more wound up.

“It’s a bit of a tester but we are going to run him at Haydock off level weights in the Betfair Chase in what will sort of be a Gold Cup trial. If he runs well, we can start looking at other conditions races and if not we’ll stick to the handicap route.

“Someone asked if we would do the Gold Cup and the Grand National but I don’t know if I could say that Cheltenham will be the warm-up for Aintree! But he does love Cheltenham and it is the right timing between the two races.”

One thing that will change if Corach Rambler lines up for a second Randox Grand National on Saturday 13th April next year is the number of opponents, with the field now featuring a maximum of 34 runners. This change came about after an annual review into all aspects of the Grand National by The Jockey Club.

Russell is very supportive of the changes and concluded: “I am delighted with the changes. Jockey Club Racecourses always try to make things safer and safer.

“They are not losing the spirit of the Grand National – it is still a big test. But reducing the field size is fine – we are usually running in fields of around 15 to 18 so to then go to a field of 34 is still going to be a test. It will also compress the handicap a bit, which may be a good thing and certainly makes it more appealing for a horse like Corach Rambler to run in it again.”

Also present at Arlary House Stable was stable jockey Derek Fox. He said: “It’s unbelievable that I have won two Grand Nationals and I look forward to riding in it again. All you can do is prepare the horses and hope for the best – Lucinda has a great team here to help make that happen.

“I’ve always enjoyed riding around Aintree but I’ve been fortunate enough to partner some really good jumpers that really suited the track.

“The ground at Kelso for Corach’s reappearance was on the heavy side which doesn’t really suit him – he goes on it but it’s not his ideal ground. I think the combination of that and it being his first run of the season just had a bearing on his fitness but he jumped well and raced with confidence. Hopefully as the season goes on and the weather gets better it will suit him.

“He is a horse that only really ever does enough and for that reason I think he is worth stepping up into open company for a race like the Betfair Chase. I am really looking forward to it.

“One For Arthur was really overwhelming as it was my first big success whereas with Corach Rambler he was well-fancied coming into the racecourse and it was just beautiful that it came off.

“I can’t believe what a great position I am in to ride for Lucinda Russell and to ride some great horses. The horses are so well prepared and you can ride them with confidence.

“I think the reduction in field size to 34 runners will make it an easier race to ride in with a wee bit more room and hopefully more straightforward. Racing has to move with the times and the Grand National will still be a marvellous race – I don’t think the changes will take anything away from it.”