One for Arthur looks the part
Lucinda’s eyes are on Aintree prize
Lucinda Russell will today be entertaining the great and the good of the Press at an Open Day at her Perthshire yard just 10 days ahead of One For Arthur’s bid to win the Randox Health Grand National at Aintree a week on Saturday.
Winner of a Grade 3 Handicap Chase over three mile five furlongs at Warwick in mid- January, One For Arthur has long had the Aintree prize in his sights and his owners Two Golf Widows have been patient in pursuing their dream.
He won a couple of hurdles at Ayr back in 2015 but came into his own over the bigger obstacles and carries a realistic chance of winning the iconic Aintree marathon.
There is still a question mark over who will ride One For Arthur as regular pilot Derek Fox attempts to recover from a broken wrist and broken collarbone to line up in his first Grand National.
It was on March 9 that Derek sustained the injuries in a pile- up at Carlisle.
He has undergone extensive physio at Jack Berry House in Malton and was visited there last week by Lucinda’s partner and assistant Peter Scudamore who was upbeat about the young rider’s chances of being passed fit in time to ride in the Grand National.
All going well, Derek will return at Carlisle next Wednesday for a couple of rides and then head to Aintree.
However, I know Lucinda and Scu have contingency plans in place should their stable jockey miss out on what will be the biggest ride of his career.
Either way, whoever is in the saddle should have a realistic chance of victory as Lucinda has One For Arthur primed to run the race of his life.
It’s been good in recent weeks to see Lucinda enjoy a return to form and she saddled the highly progressive Big River to win at Kelso at the weekend ridden by 7lb conditional jockey Blair Campbell.
The conveyor belt of young riders at the Russell yard obviously benefit from the wise words of Scu and some of the talent who have be among the winners for Lucinda this season include the aforementioned Derek Fox and Blair Campbell as well as Stephen Mulqueen, Alexander Thorne and Grant Cockburn.
Seeyouatmidnight came through his preparatory race for the Coral Scottish Grand National on Saturday a lot fitter after finishing second in the three mile two furlong handicap hurdle behind the previously mentioned Big River.
Last year, Sandy Thomson’s charge was third behind Vicente in the coral Scottish Grand National and while he has been aimed at the race again he could instead go for the Irish Grand National depending on the going.
Big River is also likely to run at the Coral Scottish Grand National meeting but in one of the long distance hurdles and as I said Lucinda’s horses are in such good heart at the moment she could have a really exciting end to the campaign.
Another Kelso winner to note at the big Ayr meeting is Runswick Royal, a winner at the Craigie track on February 27. He won the opening race in the Borders on Saturday and will now bid for the QTS Scottish Champion Hurdle a race incidentally in which Nicky Henderson hopes to run L’Ami Serge and perhaps Peace and Co too.
L’Ami Serge was beaten a neck into second place in the county Hurdle at Cheltenham the other week while Peace And Co has been off the track since Cheltenham last year.