A STUD farm owner in Ryedale is revelling in some Grand attention.

Gary Sanderson, who runs the Lilling Hall Farm, near Flaxton, believes Grand National-winning trainer Oliver Sherwood will take on one of his promising offspring after a visit from the handler.

Sherwood, who saddled Many Clouds to Aintree glory in April, ran the rule over a six-year-old unnamed mare out of Desideratum - who stands at the nearby Beechwood Grange Stud in York - and described the National Hunt prospect as "ready to go".

Sanderson's stud, which he established about three years ago after serving as a former head lad to Sheriff Hutton trainer Mick Easterby, is also attracting attention from Flat yards - with Andrew Balding having trained a winning colt in the past.

"Oliver came to look at the bumper horse," he said. "He loves her and I have brought her up and built her up. He will train her and I am sending her to him on July 1. He is a high profile trainer and it is great for our business.

"Andrew Balding is a good friend of mine. I met him at the sales one day and said I had a nice colt here and would he train him? I broke him in and sent him down and he won three races, including by ten lengths at Doncaster in the Mill Reef colours."

Having learned his trade in the pre-training business and with four decades of experience in racing behind him, Sanderson is hopeful of expanding his burgeoning empire.

He added: "If I could get Andrew Balding to train my Flat horses and Oliver Sherwood for my jumps horses then I am covering all the bases. Now I am looking towards expanding the business."