Sporting Life
Firefox and Iroko duel at Ascot
Firefox and Iroko duel at Ascot

Reaction to the Randox Grand National weights for Iroko, Jagwar and Mr Vango

By Sporting Life
Horse Racing
Tue February 17, 2026 · 5h ago

Iroko could line up as the Randox Grand National favourite for the second year running, after being rated 157 and given a weight of 11st 1lb.

Having finished fourth as a seven-year-old last April as joint-trainers Josh Guerriero and Oliver Greenall’s first ever runner in the race, the plan has always been for the JP McManus-owned gelding to head back to Aintree.

The pair could be double handed in the National on April 11th, if Jagwar can get himself qualified - by securing a placed finish in a race over at least three miles - although Guerriero conceded he may not line up, saying: "Jagwar’s only a maybe.

"He might end up in the Ultima at Cheltenham and that might decide for us what happens. It was a bit of a back-up entry for him, Aintree. He’s run two brilliant races [at Cheltenham]. I’m not convinced he’s quite been 100 per cent yet this season – he seems to be coming good now but he was improving so quick last year that his improvement’s just slowed down a bit.

“Last time he gave away a hell of a lot of weight and still ran a blinder and he probably still is improving a little bit, just not quite as fast as he was. The handicapper’s slowly getting to him and he’s got to keep fighting his way through it.”

Iroko gave his trainers a day to remember at Aintree last year with a staying on fourth place as the 13/2 favourite, and his allotted weight has understandably increased 12 months on.

"We’d like a bit less but we’ll take that, definitely!" Guerriero said.

"It’s just frustrating that we’ve just snuck up a couple since the Firefox run [at Ascot in December]. I feel like they’ve stolen those two off us but we can’t do much about that. He seems like he’s improved more at home than he’s gone up, to me, so he’s got a lovely weight and is guaranteed a run. I just pray that it’s softer ground. He’s in great form. This season, since he’s had his wind op, he seems a lot better and straighter and happier. I’m not sure whether we’re going to Kelso or Cheltenham yet but one more run and we’ll be there.

“We opted against going to Kempton [for the Ladbrokes Trophy this weekend]. Just speaking to JP there, he’d rather not. I think the most likely option is that we’ll go to Kelso again. It seemed to work last year, although from the Ultima to the Grand National is four and a half weeks which is enough time as well. I would really fancy him in that, but I think we’ve got to go the easiest route really, which is probably going to be Kelso.”

Reflecting on last year, Guerriero said: “It was a very good run. He looked a bit lost going round. He looked like a horse with not quite enough experience, which is what we were a little bit worried about. Jonjo [O’Neill Jnr, jockey] said it was a year or two too soon – that was the first thing he said when he came in.

“But it was a great run and he stayed on brilliantly. The ground was against us. He’s not very quick and he needs a bit of cut in the ground to slow it all down, so I think if that all comes together this year, softer ground, more experience, stronger, he’s had his wind op – there’s a lot of reasons why he could run better. With a race like that experience is everything, isn’t it?

“He’s got the right profile, he still looks like he’s improving, he hopefully has some workable movement in his mark.

“We’re lucky to have two horses like them and for them to have done what they’ve done for the yard is amazing. Just to have two horses who can run in the race is special. Fingers crossed – we need to get them there now and the next couple of months is crucial.”


Sara Bradstock was left heartbroken when Mr Vango failed to make the final 34 in last year’s Randox Grand National after an anxious wait but faces no such problems this time around after the handicapper put the 10-year-old up to 154 [10-12] which places him at 25th in the weights.

On hearing the news, Bradstock expressed her delight: "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 on 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.”

Bradstock’s father, Lord Oaksey, finished second in the 1963 Grand National 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!"

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Olly Murphy will wait until after the Cheltenham Festival before deciding whether Resplendent Grey will line up but admits the prospect of a first ever runner in the Aintree showpiece is “very exciting”.

After finding out his eight-year-old had been given a rating of 153 [10st 11lb], Murphy said: “It’s a nice weight. When he’s good he’s very good. He will go to Cheltenham in the meantime and we’ll see how we get on there and then make a plan re Aintree.

“Whether he’s a horse for a year down the line or for this year I’m not quite sure yet - I’ll have to speak to his owner. But he’s a high-class horse on his day and obviously stays very well.

“He’ll either go for the Gold Cup or the Ultima. We’ll see what weight he gets in the Ultima and then we’ll make a plan. I haven’t had a runner in the National so obviously I’d love to be involved, but we’ll see what happens at Cheltenham. The owner’s keen to go there first.

“He’s a high-class stayer and he’s a horse that when he gets into a rhythm he’s very good, but when he doesn’t get into a rhythm he runs no race. It’s certainly a race we’re thinking about, whether it’s this year or next year. To be my first runner, it would be very exciting.

“I don’t see any reason why he can’t carry on improving. He was a little bit inconsistent at times and hopefully that’ll come out of him now.”

Resplendent Grey won the bet365 Gold Cup Handicap Chase at Sandown last April and made a winning start to this season, defeating the talented Handstands at Carlisle in November. He was last seen chasing home Protektorat at Windsor last month in the Fleur de Lys Chase, a performance which pleased his handler who said: “He’s in good form now.

"He’s going to have a racecourse gallop at Warwick on Friday but I thought it was a very good run, having to give weight to Protektorat round a sharp track. I look forward to going back to a bigger track over further.”

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