Corach Rambler trainer Lucinda Russell admits she almost forgot to buy Grand National favourite before last gasp call

Lucinda Russell has revealed she almost missed out on Grand National favourite Corach Rambler after her partner’s son forgot about buying him.

The Perthshire handler heads to Aintree for the world’s greatest race on Saturday week with her star the bookies hotpot. After One for Arthur's 2017 success in the showpiece, Russell now has another massive chance with the two-time Cheltenham Festival winner.

As she looks ahead to the Liverpool cracker, she recounted it was not exactly a case of love at first sight for her when she first set eyes on Corach, but partner and assistant Peter Scudamore was besotted by the Rambler. And Russell has also admitted that only a motorway phone call from Scudamore to his trainer-son Michael prevented the now nine-year-old from slipping through her net.

Russell smiled and amusingly recalled: “We went to the sales and I saw Ahoy Senor and that was the horse I wanted. It’s a little bit like falling in love. A boy or a girl going to a disco and seeing someone they really like. No-one else there looks the same to them.

“That was me with Ahoy Senor. I might as well just have sat in the canteen until he came through. But Scu said: 'I’ve found another horse'. So we went down into a small stable and at the back was Corach. He wouldn’t come to the front. He was by a sire I wasn’t very sure about, I definitely wasn’t sure about his dam’s sire.

“Physically, he looked a little bit leggy and light and there was something about his eye that was untrusting. But Scu said: 'I love him.' I said okay. I thought I’d just indulge Scu and said yes!

“I said he might even end up dad’s point-to-pointer. He’s that cheap. We don't have to worry about what he does. Anyway, it was a long day and we were getting fed up, so