Lucinda Russell doesn’t just have a good record in the Ultima Handicap Chase. She owns it.
Three wins from the last four runnings — Corach Rambler in 2022 and 2023, then Myretown last March — puts Russell alongside David Pipe as the race’s most prolific modern trainer. But here’s the difference: Pipe’s four wins came across 14 runners over a decade. Russell has managed three from just seven runners in four years, a 43% strike rate that borders on absurd for a 24-runner handicap chase.
Now King of Answers, fresh from an emphatic eight-and-a-half-length victory at Kelso last Friday, is following a path that should make Ultima watchers sit up.
The Myretown Blueprint
The similarities between King of Answers and last year’s winner are striking — and they go beyond the obvious trainer connection.
Myretown’s route to the 2025 Ultima ran through a novice handicap chase at Windsor in January (where he fell), then a victory at Kelso in mid-February over two and a half miles on soft ground. He arrived at Cheltenham as a progressive type stepping into deeper waters and won at 13/2.
King of Answers? He ran in a novice handicap chase at Windsor on January 16th (finishing fourth), then bolted up at Kelso on February 13th over two and a half miles on heavy ground. The parallels are almost eerie.
Both horses showed a decisive change of gear when stepped up in trip over fences on testing winter ground. Both arrived at Kelso with something to prove after disappointing at Windsor. Both left Kelso looking like different animals.
Why It Works
Russell’s Cheltenham Festival record overall isn’t dominant — she’s had just 11 runners place across all Festival races since 2020. But the Ultima might as well have her name on it. Her approach seems perfectly calibrated for this specific race: identify a staying chaser improving through the handicap ranks, test them on heavy ground in Scotland or the North, and arrive at Cheltenham with a horse that’s battle-hardened but still unexposed at the trip.
SmartForm data shows all three of her Ultima winners shared a profile: they’d won on soft or heavy ground within six weeks of the Festival, carried between 10st 7lb and 11st 2lb, and were priced between 6/1 and 13/2. They were respected but not fancied.
Corach Rambler arrived off a comfortable Kelso success in 2022. He came back and did it again in 2023 via the same route. Myretown followed the identical playbook last year. Now King of Answers is walking the same well-worn path from Kelso to Prestbury Park.
The Twist
Connections have indicated King of Answers may bypass the Ultima entirely. Assistant trainer Peter Scudamore suggested the National Hunt Novices’ Handicap Chase over three miles six furlongs or the Midlands National at Uttoxeter could be the target instead, believing there’s further improvement over longer trips.
That would break the pattern — and arguably waste the best preparation a horse could have for the Ultima. At 14/1 ante-post, King of Answers represents obvious each-way value if he does line up on the opening day.
Whether Russell aims King of Answers at the Ultima or not, the numbers demand attention. Only David Pipe (four wins) has matched her dominance in this race, and his came from twice as many runners. If King of Answers runs in the Ultima on March 10th, ignoring him would mean ignoring one of the most remarkable trainer-race records in modern Festival history.
All statistics sourced from SmartForm’s historical database covering UK and Irish racing.