Lucinda Russell’s William Hill blog: We want to run Apple Away in the Ultima, Derek Fox says she’ll win it!

Cheltenham plans

The number one plan for Apple Away is the Ultima but we’re going to have to see if she gets in which is looking touch and go at the moment. That’s her first choice and we’re hoping to declare her there, although there are other options for her if she doesn’t get in.

She’s a bit of a tipping point because she slightly dictates where Giovinco runs. If she doesn’t run in the Ultima, we’ll likely run Giovinco instead.

The second port of call for Apple Away is the National Hunt Chase and I have doubts she’ll stay, but I do think the Ultima is the best race for her. The reason I’m so excited about that race is after she ran in the Reynoldstown at Ascot, Derek [Fox] got off and what he said really struck me.

He’s not a man of many words, so when he gets off a horse and says, ‘we should run this in the Ultima, she’ll win it’, it confirmed my thoughts that it’s the perfect race for her. She’s a really hardy mare and will come off a strong pace and I can see her flying up the hill. We’ve ridden her prominently this season but I actually think that might not be the best way to ride her and coming from off the pace might be the best way of maximising her ability. Derek said she stayed on really well at Ascot and we obviously know the sort of horse that is needed for an Ultima.

They’ve got to be able to come from off the pace in it and be brave to come past horses. I’m very confident she will be able to do both of those things.

In terms of Giovinco, if it’s soft ground he’ll head to the Turners but if it’s better ground then it will be the Brown Advisory.

In all honesty, either would require a career best, but he’s a horse we’ve always thought a lot of and I wouldn’t completely rule him out. He’s very talented and I’d give him an each-way squeak wherever he runs.

Plans are slightly more up in the air with Ahoy Senor at the moment.

I would like to run him in the Ryanair, but I do need to chat with his owners to confirm that. I know they’d love to win the Gold Cup, so I need to sit down with them and finalise exactly what we do with him.

We were happy enough with his run at Ascot and he’s another that I think is a pretty big price based on the best of his form.

Finally, Corach Rambler is in smashing form ahead of the Gold Cup. I have said in the past that the Grand National is the ultimate aim and this is a sort of a stepping stone, and while that is true, I do think he might run rather well in the Gold Cup.

I’m not a punter, but quotes of 20/1 look pretty nice to me and horses like him have run very well in the Gold Cup before.

He’s not going there as a social runner and if the conditions are right, I can see him being involved. He’s about as honest as they come, we know he’ll stay and he only wins by what he needs to, so none of us really know how much left there is in the tank.

It’s a very good race, but he’s a very good horse and we’re really looking forward to running him.