Lucinda Russell’s William Hill blog: Ryanair a serious option for Ahoy Senor

William Hill ambassador Lucinda Russell gives an update on some of her stable stars ahead of their engagements this weekend.

Giovinco

We’re running him back in a handicap just to give him a bit of confidence ahead of Cheltenham. We had a couple of options and we chose here just to give us a bit more of an idea about Cheltenham and which race is best for him. I don’t want to give him a really hard race on bad ground so if it does get bad, we might take him out and run him at Kelso on Friday.

He shapes like a stayer, but he does have speed so we’re not leaning either way at the moment. He’ll definitely get an entry in the Ultima too and I wouldn’t rule that out either as we know the sort of horse that is needed for that race. I still think three miles is probably where his future lies, but the race at Newcastle will hopefully confirm that.

Apple Away

The plan is to run her in the Reynoldstown at Ascot on Saturday. She looks very fit at the moment and has come to hand well since Warwick. It gives her a bit more jumping experience ahead of the big spring festivals and again this will help us decide where we target her.

All options are open at this stage and while we were leaning towards the Ultima, it’s not a definite by any means.

I think she’s better than she showed at Warwick and I thought she probably ran with the choke out a bit too much. She bumped into a pretty smart horse too and I think she might just take a little bit of time to really come into herself. If you look back to last year, she really thrived after the turn of the year and the way she looks now, might just be evidence of that.

Ahoy Senor

He’s on track for the Ascot Chase at Ascot on Saturday and I’m quite hopeful he’ll run very well. It was so unfortunate what happened at Cheltenham with the stirrup breaking as he was travelling brilliantly. He’s been really well at home since and we’re looking forward to it. We all know he takes a bit of time to get going, but he comes alive in the spring.

Going right-handed at Ascot is a bit of a worry, but we won’t really know until he tries it. We’re dropping back in trip as the Ryanair looks a very good option for him. If you’re classy enough to win a Gold Cup then you’re certainly classy enough to win a Ryanair. His run style suggests this might just be what he wants now.

Inis Oirr

It was hard not be impressed by Inis Oirr in the Edinburgh National and we’re now looking at the Midlands National. We’d prefer to go right-handed with him but there isn’t much else for him so we’ll see how he goes and then maybe look at the Bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown at the end of the season.

Corrigeen Rock

We were delighted with him at Musselburgh. He’s a horse that just keeps improving and the most likely next port of call for him is Kempton the day after Cheltenham. There’s a race there that looks perfect for him.