Myretown looking to be first big winner for Russell and Scudamore team

Scudamore - son of Russell's partner and assistant Peter Scudamore - officially joined the licence of the Kinross yard in August having previously trained in his own right.

Now the pair hope Myretown can prove a horse still on the upgrade, as he heads to Berkshire for his first outing since winning at the Cheltenham Festival in March.

"It's always exciting to be involved to be in the big races and it's a huge privilege and thrill to be going to Newbury with a big chance in such a prestigious race," said Scudamore.

"He was in at Cheltenham off a very light weight and a rating that doesn't often get you into a race like that. He was certainly at the right end of the handicap but couldn't have been any more impressive.

"He's got to go and take another step forward now but there's plenty of reasons to believe he can do that. He's still pretty young, still lightly raced and you hope that he is still improving.

"You would certainly hope he's got more to come and his profile would give him every chance to do that.

"His work at home has been very good this time and he's had a few away days as well to make sure we're coming here in the best possible shape we can and we hope he still might have a little something up his sleeve."

Second to Myretown in the Ultima was Joe Tizzard's The Changing Man, who was the runner-up on his return to action at Ascot and represents a stable in red-hot form.

"He had a lovely comeback run at Ascot and I'm really happy with where he is," said Tizzard.

"It's ultra-competitive, there is no doubt about it, but he has handled that in the past and we've popped a pair of cheekpieces on just to see if we can eke out a little bit more.

"The horses are in good nick and he's in good form going there, so I see no reason why he can't run a massive race."

Olly Murphy and Sean Bowen have also continued to be a lethal combination in the early salvos of the season.

In Resplendent Grey they have a versatile performer with enough stamina to win the be