Sara Bradstock was left heartbroken when Mr Vango failed to make the final 34 in last year’s Randox Grand National – but today admitted she was “delighted” to be given a shot at Aintree glory after the 10-year-old was guaranteed a run in this year’s race by the handicapper.
Twelve months ago Mr Vango was given a rating of 143 and a weight of 10st 2lb after winning his first two races of the season. But this time around the handicapper has put him up to 10st 12lb with a 154 rating, which at 25th in the list secures a place in the line-up on April 11th.
Sara’s father Lord Oaksey finished second in 1963 on Carrickbeg but she then tasted success at the highest level when husband Mark trained Coneygree to win the Cheltenham Gold Cup in 2015.
Having taken on the training license following Mark’s death in 2024 nothing would give her greater satisfaction than landing the Randox Grand National with one of only a handful of horses in her yard.
Speaking about her own father’s brush with Grand National glory 63 years ago, she laughed: "We've all relived that many times! It's a race that everybody wants to win isn't it? We've broken records by winning the Gold Cup with no horses so we might as well do it with the National!"
After being told Mr Vango’s rating and weight for the 2026 running she added: "Well there we go - that's what we've been wanting. It's a nice racing weight, he'll think he's loose compared to what he's had to carry so far this year!
"You know what the proviso is, we've got to get enough rain, but otherwise we're obviously very much looking forward to what he's good at, which is jumping and stamina. We wouldn't run him on good ground - it would have to be good to soft as his feet wouldn't do that.
"We were fantastically disappointed not to get in last year. At least we're in this year and he's a great big horse to carry weight, so I mustn't complain and we're delighted to get a chance if the ground comes.”
Sara, who trains out of the yard in Letcombe Bassett in Oxfordshire where Captain Tim Forster sent out three Grand National winners, would like to get one more run into her stable star before the big day at Aintree but is not yet sure when that might be.
She explained: "He's a lovely old gentleman who tries his heart out. You can put a line through his last run because he had an abscess under a corn. Newcastle is still in the balance (the Eider Chase this Saturday) because we're battling against time with his foot. He's fine at the moment, but he's obviously got to have his plates on.
"I'd like to have another run. He doesn't turn around that quick, so the Midlands National might be a little too soon, which would be his only other option. It would be do-able but you'd prefer a bit more time with him.”
