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Good to see Champ bowing out after an excellent career; age appeared to have caught up with him based on recent performances.
His victory in the 2020 Sun Alliance Chase was particularly remarkable given how far back he was. Even watching the replay now, it still looks in doubt! That performance beating future Festival stars Minella Indo and Allaho looks none too shoddy in retrospect either.
Wishing Champ and the other recent retirees long and happy retirements.
Corach Rambler retired
A message from Lucinda, Scu, and The Ramblers
After a lot of thought and discussion we have decided that our brilliant 2023 Grand National winner Corach Rambler is going to be retired.
In some ways the decision is laced with sadness. Corach has been a horse of a lifetime for his seven-strong syndicate of owners who won the greatest steeplechase in the world.
He also has had a special relationship with our jockey Derek Fox and has brought so much joy to all our staff here at Arlary.
But the decision is also a joyous one. Corach Rambler will always be a special horse for us, we owe him so much.
More than anything we want him to go out at the top, in excellent physical condition and able to hopefully enjoy a long and happy retirement.
Corach has had a massive influence on the fantastic run of success we are enjoying and influx of new horses and owners to our stable.
His story has resonated with both racing fans and those people who take a casual interest in the sport.
The fact he only cost £17,000 and mixed with and beat equine millionaires gave hope to any owner and trainer that they can compete no matter what their budget.
Corach’s quirky character and his running style also endeared him to his fans.
The first of his two wins in the Ultima Handicap Chase at the 2022 Cheltenham Festival earned Derek awards for his daring last-to-first ride but even he would admit Corach was the star act.
He will forever be remembered for his Grand National victory but it should not be forgotten that he had an excellent record at Cheltenham.
He raced there four times and his record is three wins, two at the Festival, and a third to Galopins Des Champs in last season’s Gold Cup.
In all he won seven of his 18 races and over £750,000. He quite literally owes us nothing – we are in his debt.
To some our decision will be a surprise. Corach is only 10, he could have raced on. But we feel we have a great responsibility with a horse with his public following to do the best thing for him.
His run in the Grand National in April did not work out as we all hoped. He unseated Derek at the first fence and then was unfortunately knocked over at the next fence when running loose.
Maybe that frightened him a bit. We have said all along that he is one of the most intelligent horses we have ever trained and he never looked happy when we ran him at Punchestown last month.
The big steeplechases next season will be contested by younger up-and-coming horses and we are not inclined to make Corach carry big weights in handicaps.
Quite simply, we could not forgive ourselves if something happened to him.
Apart from not racing any more Corach’s routine will not change much. He will remain with us at Arlary and he will become Scu’s hack, pulling his arms out every day they go up the gallops!
He will also be able to pass on a few tips to the younger horses we hope will try to follow in his footsteps.
They all have a hard act to follow. Thank you, Corach
VF x
Fair play to them. He ran a good race in the Gold Cup and I am sure it wasn’t an easy decision. I think it’s the right one though. He is certainly guaranteed a happy retirement.
Good decision horses rarely achieve too much after a National win. He’s in one piece and has many years of life in him.
The more I know the less I understand.
If events at Aintree have left their mark on Corach then it is the right decision.
I’m gutted though. He travelled so well through his National victory I would love to have seen him have one more go at the big race.
For £17k, What a horse. Have a great retirement.
Spot on, RTB. Great decision and he ran in one of the best Ultimas ever.
What a shrewd purchase he was for only 17k. I think the fact that the stable lost quite a few horses in the past season, it might have been an easier decision.
Happy retirement Corach RamblerGreat decision, quite frankly.
So often horses are raced just one season too long.
They obs felt it was the right time to gracefully retire CR.
Nice one, Lucinda…..class
I wonder how much the loss of Czech Her Out last weekend, also at the age of 10, has affected the team, especially after Giovinco’s fatal fall in the Mildmay.
His big handicap wins were achieved while looking well handicapped, not something likely to recur unless running poorly for some time. Probably the right call. As others have said the loss of others, particularly a leading light in Giovinco may have been a factor.
Think the Gold Cup left a mark and then you follow that up with what happened at Aintree and the horse really didn’t seem to want to know at any stage at Punchestown.
He was in no mans land really as not good enough to win a Gold Cup or any of those G1 3m chases (especially with the younger horses coming through) and it would be too much of an ask to run him off top weight in handicaps now.
He is clearly a spring horse and that also limits his options further so I think it was the right decision as he simply had no real viable options outside of the veterans series being a 10/11 yr old.
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