Lucinda Russell is eyeing a Scottish Grand National tilt for Apple Away.
The Perthshire handler has revealed a crack at Newbury’s Coral Gold Cup may move off the agenda for her Grade 1 winning hurdler. Instead, alternatives such as the Rehearsal Chase at Newcastle are under consideration for the Old Gold Racing-owned seven-year-old following last weekend’s seasonal reappearance run at Kelso.
Russell, though, is already mapping out ambitious end-of-term plans for her charge with a crack at Scotland’s big one, which she won in 2021 with Mighty Thunder, firmly on the table. Apple Away could develop into a serious Scottish Grand National contender with the huge event at Ayr in April catching attention.
Russell explained: “Although she could still run in the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury, I’m not that keen on the hustle and bustle of those big handicaps for a filly like her at this stage. I’m leaning more towards Newcastle for the Rehearsal Chase or Market Rasen for Listed Bud Booth Mares’ Chase. By the end of the season, it might be that she’s robust enough to go in the Scottish National. She goes well on the better spring ground and would be interesting going up in trip. She definitely gets three miles, no problem.”
Russell was satisfied with the Kelso outing and added: “She’s come out of the race really well and is always better for her first run. I felt going into the race, and particularly when I stood in the paddock with everyone, that her coat wasn’t quite as good as it can be. All things considered, she ran okay and still has a lot of nice options on the table.”
Russell also provided an update on young hurdler Kingston James, who also represents Old Gold Racing. The five-year-old got off the mark for the campaign with a win at Hexham at the beginning of this month before heading to Cheltenham last weekend. But Kingston James had to settle for fifth in the novice hurdle and Russell said: “It was a pretty hot race at Cheltenham and it didn’t work out as we wanted it to.
“We were keen to let him get on with it up front, but we were challenged for the early lead and that lit him up a bit. He ran with the choke out the whole way. I think you can put a bit of a line through that and put it down to experience. I certainly wouldn’t be adverse to running him at a good level again, he needs to mature a lot. We’ll go back for a straightforward novice hurdle next.”