Lucinda Russell’s William Hill blog: Betfair Chase will tell us where we stand with Corach Rambler

I’m really excited to be part of William Hill’s stable of ambassadors ahead of the new season. We are very lucky to have probably our strongest bunch of horses ever and we’re really looking forward to getting properly underway.

I’m looking forward to updating you all on their progress throughout the campaign and, to kick things off, here is an update on the one and only Corach Rambler.

Kelso then Haydock for Corach

He really is an amazing horse and one we are so lucky to have in the yard. Whatever we do with this year, we’ve got to give him his best chance and set him a fair task.

We’re going to start him off at Kelso at the end of the month, providing the ground is okay, and then we’ll have a good look at the Betfair Chase at Haydock. That should give us a good idea of where we stand against these Graded chasers and we can then make a bit more of a plan on how his season will look.

It would be great to go back to the National as we know he loves it around there, but it’s obviously going to be a harder task this time given he’ll be much higher in the weights.

Best might still to be to come 

We always thought he was a good horse, but it was his novice chase win at Aintree in 2021 which was when we really thought we had a good one on our hands. He won so easily, and it was at that point we thought he might be quite exciting. We said to the owners after that race that the big festivals were on the agenda, and so it has proved. It’s been a brilliant journey and hopefully there is more to come.

I’m not sure if we know quite how good he is because to win a Grand National like he did and to be as fresh as he was after it out was something you don’t see very often. Scu couldn’t believe how well he felt after it and if anything we think he’s improved again over the summer. The way he goes about things makes me think there might be a lot more under the bonnet that would don’t know about, which, if true, is incredibly exciting for all of us.

He is different to any other horse I’ve ever been associated with. He just does things differently and he really does tell you how he’s doing and the mood he’s in. He’s so smart and clever in everything he does and we can’t wait to get the season underway with him.