STEP Back is to be aimed at the Randox Health Grand National next year after landing the bet365 Gold Cup at Sandown on Saturday for Mark Bradstock’s Letcombe Bassett stables, near Wantage.

The eight-year-old gelding was having only his sixth start under rules as he made virtually all the running under Jamie Moore to claim the last big race of the jumps season, which carried a first prize of £84,405, by 13 lengths from Rock The Kasbah.

It was just Bradstock’s fifth winner of the campaign, but he was adding to his collection of high-profile successes following Carruthers’s victory in the 2011 Hennessy Gold Cup at Newbury and Coneygree’s fairytale triumph in the 2015 Cheltenham Gold Cup.

His wife and assistant, Sara, said of the 7-1 shot: “We knew he was in really good nick, but he has terrible problems with his muscle enzymes. The summer helps him, as he can be turned out all the time.

“He is the most lovely horse and he just jumps and gallops forever. His owner (Jamie McCloud) wants to be at the big meetings and he is another horse we have purchased reasonably that has done that job.

“We can prove again and again that we can do it if we are given the horses, but we’ve got 20 horses and five or six of them are young, so we have very little to run.

“This horse will be aimed at the National next year. I’m afraid the handicapper might murder us for that.

“He was off 10st, which was very nice for him. We have to hope the handicapper is not too mean.”

It was 60 years ago that her father, the late Lord Oaksey, riding as the amateur John Lawrence, won the race on Taxidermist when it was known as the Whitbread Gold Cup.

His achievements are also commemorated by Sandown with the running of the Oaksey Chase at the meeting.

Sara added: “It is lovely as Sandown have put a race on in dad’s memory, which I’m very grateful for. Dad loved this race.

“He wouldn’t have liked the way he did it, as he liked them flying from the back, but we won’t tell him that.”

The Bradstocks now plan to give Step Back practice over the National fences by running him in the Becher Chase at Aintree in December.

The victory was tinged with sadness for Moore following the earlier death of Ar Mad, trained by his father, Gary, after a fall in the bet365 Celebration Chase, in which his brother, Josh, was injured.

He said: “It was brilliant to win, but I was pretty down in the dumps because of what happened to Ar Mad, and Josh busted his shoulder again.”

West Ilsley trainer Mick Channon continued his successful start to the Flat season with a 76-1 treble at Salisbury courtesy of Cotubanama (5-1), Westbrook Bertie (7-2) and Billy Ray (15-8 fav).