Uni student who co-owns Grand National favourite stands on brink of £1.3million winnings

A UNIVERSITY student who co-owns the Grand National favourite stands on the brink of £1.3million winnings from his world-beating horse.

Corach Rambler is 5-1 to win the world’s most famous race for the second year in a row.

Cameron Sword was rubbing shoulders with Harry Redknapp at Cheltenham – now he’s going back to the Grand National as defending champ on the brink of £1.2m winnings

PA

Cameron Sword, right, and Thomas Kendall, left, pose with Corach Rambler and trainer Lucinda Russell the day after winning last year’s Grand National[/caption]

Cameron Sword, a 22-year-old business student Edinburgh’s Herriot-Watt University, took over £80,000 back to his digs last year following the amazing scenes at Aintree.

Scotsman Sword paid £3,400 for a share in the Lucinda Russell-trained horse, who he co-owns with six other ‘normal guys’ as part of the Ramblers syndicate.

Among them is accountant Tom Kendall – who wore his unwashed ‘lucky’ pants during Corach’s win last year – and telecoms boss William Wallace.

The investment they made has proved a shrewd purchase, with the superstar horse amassing career earnings of £776,459 so far.

It means each person in the ownership group has pocketed more than £100,000 already.

And those figures could swell by half a million again on Saturday night if Corach does the double.

Sword will be back at Merseyside for an even bigger slice of history after last year becoming the youngest ever winning owner of the Aintree feature.

Corach Rambler’s season got off to a sluggish start but a third place in last month’s Cheltenham Gold Cup – where Sword posed for a photo alongside football legend Harry Redknapp – looks to have him back on track.

And the uni student is dreaming of a spot in history as a dual National hero – emulating the great Red Rum’s feat 50 years on – while his friends pepper him with questions about the horse’s chances.

He told the Racing Post: “All my mates have been asking what chance we have, but when I look at the field I wouldn’t swap him.

“There’s pressure having a short-priced favourite for the Grand National, but it’s a massive privilege and he deserves to be favourite.”

Bookies aren’t quite so sure, though.

They have pushed Corach Rambler’s odds out while cutting the chances of genius Irish trainer Willie Mullins’ Meetingofthewaters following a ‘torrent’ of money.

His other runners I Am Maximus and Mr Incredible have also been well backed by punters.

Sword, who found time to set up his own racing syndicate on top of doing his dissertation, admitted he’s nervous ahead of Saturday’s race, where victory will again be worth £500,000.

But he insists there’s no pressure given he’s already hit the big time once.

He added: “There’s no pressure as however he runs doesn’t change how much of a legend he is in our eyes.

“Last year it seemed like such an impossible task, whereas this year it feels different as we’re trying to emulate what some of the Grand National greats have done by winning the race twice.”