Kandoo Kid wins the Coral Gold Cup

Randox Grand National still aim for Kandoo Kid

By David Ord

Horse Racing

Tue March 04, 2025 · 7M ago

Paul Nicholls is looking forward to getting Kandoo Kid ready for the Randox Grand National following his run at Newbury on Saturday.

Winner of the Coral Gold Cup at the track in the autumn, he dropped in trip at the weekend for the Greatwood Gold Cup and could finish only eighth, beaten just over 20 lengths by winner Booster Bob.

However, speaking on Monday’s Betfair Ditcheat Diary the trainer insisted he was pleased with the run – and how the grey has come out of the race too.

“I had Million In Mind members here on Sunday morning and I paraded him for them in the sunshine and he looked fantastic, I don’t think he hardly lost a kilo,” he said.

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“He’s fresh and well and ate up. He finished eighth, had a nice run round. Basically, they went a bit quick for him, he got outpaced and it was always going to be a bit sharp for him around there over two-and-a-half miles.

“As I’ve said all along, I had two aims to get him at his very, very best. One was the Coral Gold Cup and the other one's the National and we’ve now got five weeks to get him as we really want him.

“I’m very happy with him. Every time you run you want to win but sometimes circumstances, when you’re aiming at the National, you don’t have too many options. Two-and-a-half was a bit sharp for him on Saturday, but he jumped well, travelled well and came out of it well.

“So now we can really get stuck into him and get him fine tuned for Aintree in five weeks. I was chuffed.”