Alastair Ralph sends two runners on the 600-mile round trip to Musselburgh

Liam Bramall

Published: December 21, 2025

Horse racing is in Liam's blood and his biggest passion is jumps racing. He can often be found at his favourite tracks; Chepstow and Cheltenham in the Autumn when the National Hunt action kicks off. In his own words: "I'm often referred to as a walking form book, a trait which comes in handy from time to time. My proudest tipping success to date was landing a whopping 682-1 accumulator at Epsom."

Shropshire-based trainer Alastair Ralph doesn’t send too many runners up to Musselburgh but it’s worth taking note when he does. He has only had seven previous National Hunt runners at the Scottish track, four of which have won, and that gives him a very healthy strike-rate of 57 per cent.

Ralph sends two there on Monday so we’re going to take a closer look at their chances. One of his representatives is responsible for two of his previous Musselburgh successes. Take a look at our free tips page for daily content across British and Irish racing.

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CLAIM

1.38 Musselburgh

Magna Victor wasn’t beaten too far when finishing sixth in a Perth bumper on debut in April 2024 but struggled a bit over the same course and distance next time. It was a much better effort on heavy ground when making his first start over hurdles at Chepstow in January and he ran well to finish third.

Needing the run when fourth at Ayr on seasonal reappearance, he should improve physically with the benefit of having that run under his belt. Handicaps could be the making of this very lightly raced sort and it’s hard to argue with an opening mark of 105.

Magna Victor

Analysis

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2.08 Musselburgh

Magna Sam is a five-time winner over fences and he was last victorious in the Edinburgh National here over just shy of four miles in February, a race which he had won two years earlier. The veteran chaser had loads in hand that day and saw the trip out best of all to score by a very comfortable margin.

Struggling a little in two subsequent starts, the handicappers decision to put him up 10lb took its toll but he could be back down to a reasonable mark. Clearly marathon trips are more his cup of tea but he’s not without a chance here, especially as the 11-year-old is a four-time course winner.

Magna Sam

Analysis

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