Trainer Lucinda Russell talks about triumph and tragedy

Stables are mucked out, stirring a cloying smell of dung and straw through the air, as horses are hosed down and stubborn tangles teased from manes with a comb.

A peacock screeches from the nearby gardens, several dogs bark in unison and Russell's mobile phone rings more often than a stockbroker's during financial meltdown.

It's nearing the end of a hectic season which has seen Russell travel the length and breadth of the country with her equestrian charges to meetings including the Cheltenham Festival, Aintree Grand National, Scottish Grand National in Ayr and, in most recent days, the Perth Festival.

Today she has a slightly distracted air, her mind appearing to whirr with a constant to-do list. She offers me a coffee, but then clean forgets seconds later when someone pops their head round the door with yet another pressing question.

It's little wonder: Russell's yard reads like a Who's Who of horse racing with Silver By Nature, former St Johnstone chairman Geoff Brown's horse, and rising stars Tap Night, Nuts N Bolts and Ballyben among the 80 elite animals trained under her guidance.

"It hasn't stopped since March," she says. "The adrenalin levels have been high. It's like anything, when you apply your mind to it you don't feel tired. It's only when you get home at night you realise how drained you are. But we've had a fantastic season and success keeps you going."

The last two decades have seen Russell, 44, steadily build a career as one of the most successful jump trainers in the business. A former event rider, she made the switch to National Hunt in 1995, setting up the stables at Arlary and "ruining my parent's lovely country house by putting up lots of sheds everywhere".

The youngest of two children, Russell spent her early childhood in Edinburgh, before the family moved to Kinross-shire when she was a teenager. Her father Peter owns Glengoyne and Isle of Skye whiskies, while her mother Edith is an artist.

Russell paints a picture of a pony-mad youngster whose head was filled with equestrian fancy. She began riding at two-and-a-half after tagging along to her elder brother Leonard's lessons.

"When Red Rum won his third Grand National I remember getting a real kick out of that," she says. "I think that's when I fell in love with racing. On the way home from primary school each afternoon we would stop at a field by the side of the road and feed a pony with apples. That was the highlight of my day. I would daydream about it in lessons."

Fast forward some decades and her thoughts remain equally preoccupied on that theme. Russell meticulously devises a work plan for each horse from training and races, right down to what food it will eat.

"That's one of the most pleasing aspects and what I enjoy doing, devising the plan and tinkering with those elements to get results," she says. "Each horse is a conundrum. It's like solving a puzzle."

Russell and her partner, assistant trainer Peter Scudamore, are very much a double act. Scudamore – or Scu as he prefers – is an eight-time Champion Jockey who rode 1678 winners during his successful 15-year National Hunt racing career.

For the most part horse racing remains a male-dominated world with Russell among only a handful of successful woman trainers including Jenny Pitman, Henrietta Knight and Venetia Williams. Russell smiles when asked when she realised she had gained the respect of her peers. "Winning has helped," she says. "If you come into any industry you have to prove yourself and that's what I have attempted to do."

Russell has had to face the barrage of animal rights activists too. It remains a thorny topic and she is all too aware of the criticisms levelled at the sport. "For a horse to be put down, that is heartbreaking for everyone," she insists. "If only animal rights activists could see the quality of care the horses get.

"I think the Grand National was a fantastic spectacle this year, they had put in so much thought into changing the fences and it really worked. If things aren't right it is in our interests to correct that. I hope people will see things are changing and we are trying to do all that we can."

Yet for all her burgeoning success, last year proved a tumultuous time at Arlary. First Brindisi Breeze, the first Scottish-trained Cheltenham winner for 10 years, jumped out of his summer paddock in the middle of the night last May. Wandering on to the road, he was killed by a lorry.

The news affected everyone at the yard, not least his jockey, 21-year-old Campbell Gillies, who had ridden the horse in that historic win. A month later Gillies joined three other young jockeys and Russell's head lad, Mark Ellwood, on holiday in Greece. Returning from a night out, Gillies decided to dive into the swimming pool. He failed to resurface and drowned. Grief reverberated through Arlary.

"It was hard and we are still feeling the effects of it now," says Russell, a tremor creeping into her voice. "I don't think we are ever going to move past it. I still miss him immensely.

"I'm sure anyone who has had someone close to them die feels the same. When you wake up each morning it's like a hangover, there's that moment when you forget, then suddenly think: 'Oh God ...'

"You have got to pull it together as best you can. I think Campbell would be proud of how the yard has progressed and the successes we've had."

"It has made me stop and take stock of life," she adds. "When we won Campbell's memorial race in Hexham last October it felt so trite. I know that sounds like I'm putting it down, I'm not and it's important to keep remembering him. But would I give back all the winners I had this season to have Campbell back? Of course I would."

Another to pay tribute to Gillies in recent weeks is Ryan Mania, the Scottish jockey who claimed victory on Auroras Encore in the 2013 Grand National at Aintree.

"Ryan came for an interview the same day as Campbell," says Russell. "We offered both of them a job, but Ryan turned it down as he didn't want them to be competing for rides." She smiles, the light coming back into her eyes. "We've followed his career, of course, and are very proud to see how well he's done. He came back last winter to ride out for us. He's a brilliant jockey and I think he's coped with the media attention well."

Russell looks stumped when asked about her passions away from work. "I have a spaniel called Tiger," she offers. But racing is all-consuming, she admits. With 80 horses in the yard it doesn't leave much time for anything else. "I do delegate," she insists. "But equally I like being hands on. To be honest, I can't imagine life any other way.

"We're going on holiday this year which is something we haven't done for, well, forever. People keep saying: 'Oh, you'll enjoy that', but I actually won't as I enjoy being around the yard.

"We do cheat and go to Elie, Fife, to stay with my aunt," she adds. "Scu and I go down early evening and come back in the morning, so no-one knows we've been away. I love it there. It's the one place we both really switch off."

Russell is succinct when asked what the ultimate ambition is. "More winners," she says bluntly. Then there's the not-so-small matter of attempting to surpass fellow Scottish trainer Len Lungo's record of 63 for most wins in a National Hunt season set in 2002-03.

This season marks her most successful to date with 59 winners. "Beating Len's record was never my goal," she says. "It's one that the racing press have got me to follow – and the more they mention it the twitchier I got.

"We don't tend to set numerical goals because there are so many variables involved. We were flying, we were way ahead of it, then the bad weather this year led to so many abandonments. The one thing we can't control is the weather."

lucinda russell National Hunt trainer