Lucinda Russell: Scotland’s Most Successful National Hunt Trainer and Dual Grand National Winner

While not the first area to spring to mind when you think of horse racing, Scotland is home to five racecourses and a strong training community. Of the yards located north of the border, one of the most notable is found in Perthshire.

Arlarly House in Milnathort, Kinross, is the base for Lucinda Russell, the most successful Scottish National Hunt trainer of all time, and one of only two women to win the Grand National more than once.

Born into a Famous Whisky Family

Born on 24 June 1966, Lucinda Russell does not hail from traditional racing stock. Her mother, Edith, was an artist, while her father, Peter, was a significant figure in the Scottish whisky industry. A qualified chartered accountant, he followed that career path before taking over the family whisky business from his father, Leonard, in 1956. Under Peter’s guidance, the Russell family business expanded – purchasing the distiller Ian Macleod and Co Ltd in 1963 and later Edinburgh Gin. Lucinda’s older brother Leonard followed in the footsteps of his father to serve as the Managing Director of the business.

Despite her lack of ties to the equine world, Lucinda developed a love of horses from an early age. While many youngsters’ walls were adorned with the latest rock stars, a poster of three-time Grand National hero, Red Rum, took pride of place in Lucinda’s bedroom. Following much pleading, her family finally acquiesced to Lucinda’s wishes when handing their delighted daughter her first pony at the age of 10.

Attending St George’s School in Edinburgh between 1971 and 1983, Lucinda honed her riding skills at the Fife Pony Club and at the local hunt in her teenage years. By this time, the family had moved from Edinburgh to Arlary House Farm in Perthshire.

Psychology, Eventing, and the Family Business

With her time at St George’s at an end, Lucinda gained a Psychology degree from the University of St Andrews. Following her graduation, Lucinda announced she was taking a gap year to pursue her love of eventing.

Riding competitively during this period, she funded herself by purchasing horses cheaply, training them to eventing standard, and selling them on at a profit. Now an expert-level rider, she gained further experience on the point-to-point scene. In her 20s, Lucinda spent time helping out with the whisky empire and credits this time with honing her business acumen.

Scotland’s Self Built Trainer

Building on her Point-to-Point experience, Lucinda tasted some success as a trainer on the hunter chase scene. Her first winner under rules, Gunmetal Boy, came at Kelso in 1993. Two years later, Lucinda took the plunge and set up her own professional training establishment at the family farm.

Starting with a small team of horses, Lucinda found an able deputy in her partner, the eight-time Champion National Hunt jockey Peter Scudamore. Retiring from the saddle in 1993, Peter has served as Lucinda’s assistant trainer from the moment she first took out her licence in 1995.

In common with many new trainers, Lucinda took a little time to climb the ranks. Her first full season in 1995/96 yielded 12 winners, but she failed to break into double figures in five of the following seven seasons.

Whilst winners were fleeting, Russell had successfully established a stable base, and from there, she began to build. Breaking through the £100,000 prize money barrier for the first time in 2002/03, she then more than doubled her previous best tally with 29 winners in 2004/05.

Breaking into the Big Time

Setting a new personal best of 31 winners in 2007/08, Lucinda equalled that total in 2008/09. She then set a new benchmark of 41 in 2010/11 and bettered that tally in each of the next seven seasons. Her total of 66 winners in 2013/14 represented the most ever recorded in a single season by a Scottish National Hunt trainer. That record stood until Russell raised the bar once more with 71 winners in 2022/23 and 75 in 2023/24.

As the quantity of Russell-trained winners increased, so did the quality. Silver By Nature put the yard on the map with big handicap successes in the 2010 Blue Square Gold Cup and 2011 Haydock Grand National Trial. Those wins were swiftly followed by a first Grade 2 victory, when Bold Sir Brian landed the Premier Kelso Hurdle.

With momentum building, Russell claimed her first headline success on the biggest stage of all. Lining up against talents from the giant yards of Willie Mullins, Gordon Elliott, and Paul Nicholls, Brindisi Breeze powered home to claim the Grade 1 Albert Bartlett Novices’ Hurdle on Day 4 of the 2012 Cheltenham Festival.

Russell tasted further Cheltenham Festival success when saddling Corach Rambler to win back-to-back editions of the Ultima Handicap Chase in 2022 and 2023. She then claimed that opening day event for a third time with Myretown in 2025.

Grand National Heroes

Grade 1 winners Ahoy Senor and Apple Away, along with 2021 Scottish Grand National hero Mighty Thunder, are others to put the yard’s name up in lights. However, Lucinda Russell is best known for her exploits at Aintree in April. As the most famous jumps race in the world, the Grand National features high on the wish list of most National Hunt trainers. Lucinda Russell ticked that box twice in the space of seven years.

Following an eye-catching third in the Becher Chase and an impressive win in the Classic Chase, One For Arthur was among the leading fancies for the 2017 edition of the Aintree showpiece. Those who lent their support to the horse sporting the silks of the “Two Golf Widows” were rewarded with a resounding success. Taking the lead over the last, the mount of Derek Fox powered clear up the run-in to become the first Scottish-trained Grand National winner since Rubstic in 1979.

Having waited 38 years for a Grand National winner, Russell delivered another for Scotland in 2023. Arriving on the crest of a wave, having successfully defended his Ultima Handicap crown, Corach Rambler started as the 8/1 favourite at Aintree. With Derek Fox once again in the saddle, the popular gelding raised the roof when streaking clear around the elbow and holding on to win by two and a quarter lengths.

A Family Affair

Awarded an OBE for services to horse racing in 2018, Lucinda Russell has trained the winner of over 1,000 jumps races and over 40 on the flat. Included in that number are 18 Graded triumphs, headlined by those two Grand National wins, and four victories at the Cheltenham Festival.

In late 2025, a new name was added to the licence at Arlary House. Formerly based in Hereford, the Cheltenham Festival and Welsh Grand National-winning trainer, Michael Scudamore, moved north to join forces with Russell and his father. Now home to well over 100 horses and backed by a famous father-son racing duo, Russell is well placed for further success in the racing spotlight.