What A Shout is back for another preview of the weekend's biggest races and, ahead of some stellar action at Newbury and Newcastle on Saturday afternoon, we've picked out some of the best bits to enjoy.
On this week's episode, host Dave Orton is joined by Racing Post Weekender editor Tom Park, bet365's Pat Cooney and special guest Lucinda Russell, who talks about her stable stars and her dream of winning the 2023 Cheltenham Gold Cup.
The team also give us their best bets of the weekend, including selections from Newbury and Newcastle, with all the action available on our Sports Live Streaming platform.
Russell says Corach Rambler in with a big chance
Scottish-based trainer Russell has one of the leading contenders for the Gold Cup Handicap Chase at Newbury on Saturday with Corach Rambler.
The eight-year-old gelding is 8/1 to give his trainer a first success in one of the most valuable chase handicaps of the season.
Russell is very excited to be saddling the horse in the 3m contest at Newbury and she thinks he goes there with a big chance.
She said: "We love having big-race winners, it is very important for all trainers. This race is one of the biggest handicap races of the season. The horse is in great form. We scoped him the other day and his tests came back clear.
"He has come on a lot for his last race at Carlisle. That was over a much shorter distance than he prefers. We have targeted this race for a long time and he has solid form on good ground. As long as it is safe ground, which I expect it to be, he will definitely run.
"My horse has plenty of experience in these big fields now and he seems to enjoy them. He is a remarkable horse in that you can watch him at home and he looks like he is doing absolutely nothing.
"That’s exactly how he appears in a race, as he can be cantering at the back of the field and looking like he has never jumped a fence before, then suddenly, he takes off, just like he did at Cheltenham in the Ultima Handicap Chase."
Oscar Elite attracts Park's attention
Meanwhile, Park thinks this race could go the way of the Tizzard team with Oscar Elite. Colin won this race twice as a trainer and his son Joe is now looking to prevail with the licence.
He said: "I am very keen on Oscar Elite. He is a very classy horse. The Ultima Handicap Chase form is looking very strong. He bled after the race, whether that made a difference is hard to say.
"He has had a wind-op over the summer so hopefully he is over any issues he had. I expect him to come on from his run at Wetherby."
Cheltenham Gold Cup the dream with Ahoy Senor
Russell also spoke about her dream of winning the Cheltenham Gold Cup one day and she is hoping to get Ahoy Senor back on track for the Blue Riband event at the Cheltenham Festival in March.
Last season’s Grade One winning novice chaser is expected to return to action at Aintree next week and is currently a 25/1 shot for the 2023 Cheltenham Gold Cup. Russell explains that it did not go to plan for him at Wetherby last time out.
She said: "He did not behave very well last time out at Wetherby. They hassled him up front and he did not enjoy that. Looking forward, we are going to go to Aintree where there will be a smaller field.
"He is a very good horse. We have done plenty of work with him at home. I think he will be in the right place by next week. It would be nice to get him back on track. We all like to have a dream and ours is the Cheltenham Gold Cup with this horse."
Park thinks it's hard to oppose Constitution Hill
Supreme Novices’ Hurdle winner Constitution Hill is set to make his seasonal reappearance at Newcastle on Saturday in the Grade One Fighting Fifth Hurdle.
He will take on his stablemate Epatante, the horse which won this race in 2020 and 2021, albeit the latter was a dead-heat.
Constitution Hill is 1/4 to prevail and keep up his 100% start under Rules and while Park believes it may not be a 22-length success, he expects last season’s leading novice hurdler to make a winning return.
He said: "Horses sometimes are capable of extraordinary things, but they don’t always replicate it. I don’t think Constitution Hill is going to win all his races by 22 lengths this season, however, it is hard to look past him here.
"As far as odds-on shots go, he is rock-solid. Epatante is a very good horse in her own right, but everything points to Constitution Hill winning well.
"It is his first race of the season, and he does look like a horse who wants to be racing on good ground, but if Nicky thinks the ground is right, then he should handle it with no problems.
"It is exciting to see him out and the crowd at Newcastle will be getting their money’s worth. We will find out if he is the real deal as Epatante is going to be a decent challenge for him and if he puts her away easily, we have an exciting horse on our hands."
