Scudamore sweet on Corach Rambler claims at Newbury

Peter Scudamore won the Coral Gold Cup twice during his illustrious riding career and is expecting Corach Rambler to give a good account of himself at Newbury on Saturday.

Scudamore, successful in what was the Hennessy aboard Strands Of Gold in 1988 and Chatam in 1991, is the partner of and assistant to Scottish trainer Lucinda Russell, who is set to saddle Corach Rambler.

Winner of the Ultima Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival in March, the eight-year-old finished fifth of seven runners in the Colin Parker Memorial at Carlisle last month – a run Scudamore feels will leave him cherry-ripe for his weekend assignment.

He said: “It wasn’t his distance at Carlisle, but he ran well. I was pleased with the way he jumped. He probably ran to about the same level as he did when we ran him over two and a half miles on his first start last year.

“I didn’t want him to get a penalty. I wanted him to do his best and if he won, he won. I am not saying he will win, you can’t say things like that, but he has the right profile for the race.

“Historically, previous season’s novices have run well in this race. Whether he is good enough, I don’t know, but he has the right profile and he has a decent weight.”

Corach Rambler is the 7-1 second-favourite with the sponsors, who make the David Pipe-trained Remastered their market leader at 6-1.

The 19 confirmations are headed by Fanion D’Estruval, one of two possible runners for Venetia Williams along with Chambard, followed by Anthony Honeyball’s Sam Brown and Nicky Henderson’s Chantry House.

Other hopefuls include the Paul Nicholls-trained Threeunderthrufive and Joseph O’Brien’s Kerry National winner Busselton.