Horse sculpture by firm in Fornham All Saints, near Bury St Edmunds, is the mane attraction at the Grand National

A firm is showing off a life-sized horse sculpture it has been commissioned to exhibit at the Grand National.

JG Sculpture, in Fornham All Saints near Bury St Edmunds, was approached only two weeks ago by the Jockey Club regarding the opportunity.

The company had already sculpted a stallion out of dismantled steel wheel rims, to be displayed at the Park Farm Business Centre.

It was merely intended to symbolise 'energy, power, and celebration' – a brief which captured the imagination of Grand National organisers.

John Goadby, from JG Sculpture, spoke of his pride in being commissioned to display a work at one of Europe’s biggest racing events.

The offer came about in unlikely circumstances.

Mr Goadby said: "I was saying about the stallion, and a client of mine said: 'Would you possibly be interested in exhibiting it at a race?'

"I didn't think anything of it, until, two days after that particular conversation, I got a phone call, about two o'clock in the morning, from the same client.

"They said: 'If you want, we can get it [the sculpture] to the Grand National?'"

On the opportunity, Mr Goadby said: “It’s absolutely mind-blowing, to be honest – you have to grab these things as they come along.

“It’s not costing us anything to do, other than time, and the costs of actually moving it up there [to Aintree].

“The Jockey Club have been so helpful. They’ve organised everything at the other end, we’ve just got to get the sculpture up there.”

Mr Goadby believes the sculpture will attract significant public attention when it is unveiled at the Grand National, which kicks off on Saturday, April 15.

He told SuffolkNews: “It’s in a class of its own, for what it is. People make things out of bits of scrap metal, but this is something different.

“It was constructed with the idea that people see the sculpture, the power, the passion of the horse – and not necessarily realise what it’s made of.

“Thousands of people, hopefully, will see it. It’s so unusual, it might just get a bit of TV coverage, as well.”

JG Sculpture is hoping for more work with the Jockey Club in the future.

Mr Goadby stated: “It’s could be the start of something quite different, something really positive moving the business forward."