Lucinda Russell is sending a select team to the Cheltenham Festival from her base in Kinross and is hopeful of a good week.
Russell, and her partner Peter Scudamore, have enjoyed some notable successes at Prestbury Park in recent years with Corach Rambler winning back-to-back renewals of the Ultima Handicap Chase.
The stable will be represented in that staying handicap by both Whistle Stop Tour and Myretown and the former has been well supported in the betting market in recent days.
"I think he's got a little bit of value in his handicap mark and I can understand why he's being backed," she told the host of Nick Luck Daily on the 'Cheltenham Eve Special' of the podcast.
"I suppose we've always had this race in mind for Whistle Stop Tour which is why we ran him at Cheltenham, albeit over too short a trip [replay below]. I think I was trying to be clever and not empty him before Cheltenham and he came out of that race really well.
"He ticks a lot of boxes. He's got Cheltenham experience, he'll definitely stay the trip, he's a young horse, he's a novice, he's improving.
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"Myretown is a horse that I think is on a really good mark. It's probably because he's pretty lightly raced, lacks the experience of Whistle Stop Tour, just lacks a little bit of street-wiseness.
"He had a horrible fall at Windsor and then we went back to Kelso and he was so impressive, albeit in a small field. My worry is that he's going to be in a big field and it's going to be a totally different challenge for him but having said that, he was so good at Kelso and his other part-owner said he's probably on the best handicap mark he's ever going to be on so it's worth taking a chance with him in a valuable race at the Cheltenham Festival."
The stable will also be busy on Friday when Ahoy Senor, second to L'Homme Presse in the Brown Advisory in 2022, returns for another crack at the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup.
"Ahoy Senor looks fab," Russell continued.
"We've given him a soft-palate cautery since his last run. I was looking at him this morning and he's just a different shape. Whether this has been a problem, although he's never made a noise to our knowledge, but whether he's now able to use himself properly I don't know. He looks a different shape and I hope it's the right shape!
"I'm quite optimistic about him; I do think he's in better shape than he has been for a long time."
Ahoy Senor may be approaching the latter end of his career but the stable will also run one of their brighter prospects in Derryhassen Paddy who is due to take his chance in the Albert Bartlett Novices' Hurdle and he is the apple of his trainer's eye.
"I adore him," she said. "I think he's got great ability, he's just a phenomenal horse.
"He'll be suited by Cheltenham with the uphill finish, he stays all day. It's a bit of a pain that we didn't manage to run him at Haydock, I really wanted to but the ground wasn't right for him on the day so we didn't and instead we're going to try him at Cheltenham on Friday.
"He does lack experience but I think he doesn't lack for ability."
The yard may also be doubly represented in the Grand Annual but ground conditions look likely to have gone against their principal contender, Traprain Law.
Russell said: "Traprain Law. I think if it was soft or heavy I would have put all my pennies on him.
"I think he's been running really well this season and yet he hasn't had his ground. I think a fast-run two miles is fantastic for him. He's grown up, he's a man now and knows what he's doing but I just wish the ground was a bit softer, maybe he'll surprise me.
"Primoz will like the good ground but he's got a way to go. He's quite quirky but he's a good horse on his day."
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