Follow Coral racing ambassadors Tom Scudamore, Jamie Spencer and Luke Morris for in-depth previews of their runners every week.
Coral ambassador on why the Aintree showpiece is so special What does the Grand National mean to you? It’s the greatest race in the world bar none. When you are asked as a jockey what race you most want to win it’s very hard to choose between the Grand National and the Gold Cup, but you want to win both and the Grand National goes way beyond the normal horse racing following to a whole new audienc... more...
Coral ambassador previews his Cheltenham Gold Cup Day rides Cheltenham 14.50 – Ramses De Teillee It’s a case of the softer the better for Ramses De Teillee, so if there was a monsoon on Thursday night I’d be the happiest man at Cheltenham on Friday! Joking apart, he has surprised me with how well he’s done over hurdles this season. He’s tough, he’s hard, this big field won’t bother him, and ... more...
Coral ambassador previews his Cheltenham Day Three rides Cheltenham 13.30 – Poker Play Poker Play is the outsider here, and that’s realistic based on his last two runs, although his first run of the season, when he won at Ffos Las, has worked out OK. However, I’m obviously not saying that gives him the form to win this, but the ground here should suit, and a return to his best could easily s... more...
Coral ambassador previews his Cheltenham Day Two rides Cheltenham 15.30 – Queen Mother Champion Chase I don’t have a ride in Wednesday’s feature, but it’s a race I’ll be watching with as much interest as everyone else, as it has the potential to be a classic, similar to the era of Moscow Flyer, Azertyuiop and Well Chief. Although Altior had his late scare this week, he won’t run unless he’s ... more...
Coral ambassador previews Day One at Cheltenham It’s obviously been a very wet winter, but everyone has been in the same position as far as the ground goes, and it’s not as if we’re suddenly going to be running on good ground this week, after weeks of heavy ground. It may get quicker as the week goes on, but this opening day will be on the slow side. The meeting begins with an open-looking S... more...
Coral ambassador discusses his Festival preparations and rides The loss of Sandown’s Imperial Cup card will be a blow to connections of runners who needed to win to book their place at the Festival. We all hate missing out on the chance of a winner, but in terms of our match fitness if you like, an extra day or two off won’t make any difference to how we go into Cheltenham week. For me, it m... more...
Coral ambassador previews his weekend rides Saturday rides The ground at Doncaster always dries out well but the forecast is pretty unsettled so it will be interesting to see what the going is come race-time. 13.50 Doncaster – Remastered He was a disappointment last time. We thought he’d run a big race at Sandown, following his decent second at Chepstow the time before to Potters Cross. He i... more...
Coral ambassador previews his weekend rides and looks ahead to Cheltenham Saturday 12.40 Kempton – No Hidden Charges No Hidden Charges has had a fantastic season so far. He is back off a little break following his run last time at Newbury. The better ground which he will get at Kempton will suit him. He is going to have to carry a lot of weight here but he is the top-rated horse in the race. I am ... more...
Coral ambassador previews his rides this weekend Saturday 15.00 Ascot – Eden Du Houx Eden Du Houx was a top-class bumper horse, but things haven’t quite gone to plan this year until Chepstow last time when he scored in a novice hurdle contest. That was his first run back since wind surgery which looks to have worked well. I thought that was a good race at Chepstow which he won so it gi... more...
Coral ambassador previews his rides this weekend Saturday 12.55 Warwick – Upton Road Upton Road is having his first run under Rules here. He has settled in nicely and we are very happy with him. This is going to be a competitive race. One Touch looks the one we probably all have to beat. We like our horse but this is going to be informative more than anything else. 2.05 Warwick – Moonlighter I won... more...