The Grand National hero who loves ‘pretty blondes’ and the intelligent trainer firing for double Aintree glory

IT was a battle cry more befitting Robert the Bruce on a peaty Bannockburn bog.

Certainly not a line you’d expect as jump racing’s glitterati sipped champagne and prepared to tuck into a five-star lunch at one of Liverpool’s most historic landmarks.

PA

Lucinda Russell with her Aintree hero Corach Rambler[/caption]

Even less accompanied by an enchanting smile, from the diminutive figure it was hard to pick out in the suited and booted of St George’s Hall.

Yet, albeit for far different reasons to the Highlands’ warrior king, Lucinda Russell is a National hero too. Another proud Scot with a reputation for beating the odds and bloodying glamorous noses.

An appetite for battle summed up with a rallying call which has become her catchphrase: “This is it boys, this is war.”

It is one that has served her well, sending out over 700 winners from her Kinross yard, 30 miles outside Edinburgh, where she trains with partner Peter Scudamore.

Twice in the last seven years the winner of the Grand National has come from north of the border. Had it not been for One For Arthur in 2017, and Corach Rambler 12 months ago, the world’s most famous race — like so many others — would have gone to the Emerald Isle.

In April Corach will be back at Aintree for another crack, and, with 56 of the 87 entries coming from Ireland, once more he is the best chance of a home triumph.

Plenty of others have seemingly all but given up the ghost. Happier to farm low-grade handicaps, rather than take on the Irish.

Russell is not one of them. With her it is fight, not flight, and it was the challenge of going for the biggest pots — to hell with whoever lies in opposition — which sparked that call to arms.

It went beyond Corach’s chances of repeat, to the fact only seven of the top 34 in this year’s weights are from Britain. England’s challenge may not reach double figures.

To some conspiracy-theory seekers, there must be a dark secret behind the dominance. Russell is not one of them. And with an honours degree in psychology, we’re not just talking Scotland’s greatest ever trainer, but one of racing’s deepest and most intellectual thinkers.

In Russell’s eyes, the focus shouldn’t be a hunt for non-existent excuses, but on taking the bull by the horns.

She insisted: “We have to step up don’t we? It’s up to us, rather than moaning, to face it, do something about it and take them on. It’s up to us to start buying some of the best. It’s about buying quality because they’re also plundering the best French horses.

“I have never been one to say anything else — at one point it was the West Country that dominated, then it was Yorkshire.”

And that doesn’t necessarily mean having the deepest pockets, either, for all it is an obvious and massive advantage. It is as much about spotting the right horse. At £17,000, Corach Rambler is evidence.

Although not even he can match Shark Hanlon’s Hewick, the finest bargain rail hero of all. His CV includes the Galway Plate, an American Grand National and the King George . . . little wonder he will carry top weight at Aintree. He is also Irish.

Russell added: “Shark has outdone us, but apart from that Corach is one of the cheapest. So it’s not just about money, it’s about finding the right ones.”

She has certainly done that with her stable star, who will have the blue riband of prep races in next month’s Cheltenham Gold Cup. As the defending champion, this time he goes to Merseyside with a target on his back.

She said: “Any time you have a runner in the National is great, but to have a returning hero, a returning champion is fantastic.

“He is becoming harder and stronger, his coat is coming through and his attitude changes.

“He looks slimmer, harder, and is just starting to get really fit. My mother’s scared of horses and if she comes to the box he stands back, but if it’s a pretty blonde he goes straight to them!

“And preparing them for big races is much more exciting than for small handicaps. That’s why I do it . . . this is it, this is war — just as long as he meets as much luck in running as last time.”

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