Corach Rambler

Two horses to take out of the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury last Saturday. The first is Corach Rambler, who did well to keep on as well as he did to take fourth place in a race in which the pace held up well. Settled towards the rear of the field early on by Derek Fox, he was a detached 12th of the 13 remaining runners and under pressure as they left the back straight final time. But he made rapid progress from the top of the home straight to move into seventh place as they landed over the fourth last fence. He was big at the third last, and he stumbled a little on landing, which cost him energy and momentum, but he stayed on well from there over the last two fences and up the run-in to move into fourth place, just two and a half lengths behind third-placed Gericault Roque.

It was a big run by Lucinda Russell’s horse. Winner of a red hot Ultima Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in March, a race that continues to look stronger and stronger with the passage of time, this was a good step forward from his seasonal debut in the Colin Parker Chase at Carlisle. He was dropped by 1lb for his Newbury run, so he is only 6lb higher than he was at Cheltenham in March, and that is fair. He has run just eight times over fences, so we may not have seen the best of him yet. He is two for two at Cheltenham, so he will obviously be of interest if and when he goes back there, but he is also one for one at Aintree, and a tilt at the Grand National is surely tempting. He does like to be held up in his races, which wouldn’t be your first choice of running style for a Grand National, but One For Arthur, also trained by Lucinda Russell, was held up when he won it. He stays really well, and he would be of interest over the extreme trip of the Aintree Grand National, or of any Grand National.
Newbury, 26^th November 2022