Myretown - leading fancy for Coral Gold Cup

Coral Gold Cup preview: Lucinda Russell hails Myretown ahead of Newbury

By David Ord

Horse Racing

Tue November 25, 2025 · 4w ago

Lucinda Russell has labelled Myretown as “one the best ones we’ve trained” ahead of his run in Saturday’s Coral Gold Cup at Newbury.

The eight-year-old is among the market leaders for the competitive handicap and will be making his seasonal reappearance having last been seen when running away with the Ultima Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.

The trainer told Tuesday’s Nick Luck Daily Podcast: “I think he’s one of the best ones we’ve ever trained. He has that little side of being a freak, he’s a little bit different to other horses, he’s a very bold horse, he’d do anything for you, and he has a great heart.

“If he can be better than his handicap mark then we’ll be OK. It’s a big ask for him, he’s only a second season chaser and it’s the most competitive staying handicap there is so let’s see how he gets on.

“But he seems in very good form and had a good summer. He’s come out if it well and even though he hasn’t run, he’s been away three times for racecourse gallops including at Ayr where they let us school him round over two miles and jump their fences.

“He hasn’t had a race, but he’s had everything but have a race and hopefully he goes there in good form.”

And clearly his performance at the weekend will tell connections plenty about their direction of travel with him moving forward.

“I think with him we have to see what happens on Saturday and we have two or three routes we might go down afterwards.

“It’s whether he’d then be good enough to come out of handicaps. Is his aim going to be the Cheltenham Gold Cup, the Grand National or are we going to look at other handicaps? The result on Saturday will give us an idea about that.”

Stable stalwart Ahoy Senor will also be in action at Newbury, having a rare outing over timber in Friday’s Coral Long Distance Hurdle.

“I was so against running him over hurdles when so many people wanted us to do that because his jumping over fences was a little ropey,” the trainer added.

“Then I said no but I think now is a good time to do it. I think it will be good fun for him. Normally before he runs, we get terribly anxious and on this occasion I’m not. I think it; a nice, fair race for him and if he can run well and get placed maybe that will help boost his confidence again.”

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