Last year’s Grand National hero Corach Rambler finished well-held in fifth when making his reappearance in the Edinburgh Gin Chase at Kelso this afternoon.
The Lucinda Russell-trained nine-year-old had to give away upwards of a stone to his rivals at Kelso and was clearly in need of the outing.
Corach Rambler jumped well towards the rear of the six-runner field but failed to stay in touch with his rivals once the pace began to lift.
Success went the way of 11-4 chance Elvis Mail, who kept on strongly to get the better of the longtime absence Highland Hunter by two lengths.
Russell told ITV Racing: "Derek and Scu [Peter Scudamore, assistant trainer] said he got tired, the track was quite sharp for him and I'm not going to make loads of excuses it's probably my fault for bigging him up.
"When you actually look at his form, he always tends to need his first run so hopefully he can build on that.
"Derek was happy but just said he blew up. I have to apologise to everybody but that's how he is.
"We did mention the Betfair Chase, but he'd have to improve a lot at home for that and he is still in the Coral Gold Cup, so we'll just see how he is and then make a plan."
Corach Rambler remains the 16/1 favourite for Grand National glory at Aintree next April.
