Bradstock hoping for Haydock end to Mr Vango’s weather ‘nightmare’

Sara Bradstock says it is an “absolute nightmare” trying to find a suitable opportunity for Grand National hopeful Mr Vango.

The trainer is looking to Aintree with the 10-year-old after he recorded a decisive win in the Sky Bet Peter Marsh Chase 12 months ago, before rounding off his season with victory in the Midlands Grand National at Uttoxeter in the spring.

With the Grand National in mind, Mr Vango tackled the famous fences for the first time on his first start of the current campaign in last month’s Becher Chase and was beaten a short head by Ben Pauling’s Twig.

Bradstock has been frustrated by the weather since, ruling her stable star out of the Welsh Grand National due to unsuitable ground before plans to contest last weekend’s Classic Chase at Warwick were scuppered by the weather, with Warwick’s feature meeting abandoned due to a frozen track.

The Wantage handler has now turned her attentions to a Peter Marsh Chase defence, but is again keeping a close eye on the forecast for Haydock.

She said: “The ground has got to go soft – he is reliant on the rain arriving completely.

“I wouldn’t run him over three miles (and one a half furlongs) on good to soft ground and the whole thing is an absolute nightmare to be honest as I hoped they would reschedule the Classic Chase.

“What do I do now? I need at least two runs if I’m going to run him in the National and I can’t keep asking him to bust his absolute gut to run over three miles, especially on a tight track like Haydock. I know he won it last year, but when they came in after the first race that day I asked two jockeys what the ground was like and they said it was unraceable, so that’s why he could win over three miles that day.

“He’s in fantastic order and I would absolutely love to run him, so he may well be declared in case the rain arrives.

“I do desperately want to get a race into him, but I don’t want to break either his body or his heart.”

Should conditions this weekend be deemed unsuitable, options for Mr Vango are limited, with another race at Haydock considered the most likely option.

“The next race after Saturday is the Grand National Trial at Haydock (February 14), which is over three and a half miles,” Bradstock added.

“Mr Vango should be one of the best chances of having an English fancy in the Grand National, but I can’t run him in the National off one run – they need to be battle-hardened.”