Amateur rider Maxwell – who has family connections to the great race – set to make his debut in the Aintree marathon after buying Henry De Bromhead's Ain't That A Shame
Amateur jockey David Maxwell will 'live his dream' when he rides in the Randox Grand National for the first time at Aintree Racecourse this Saturday.
Although it will be Maxwell's debut, it won't be his first time riding over the famous Grand National fences. And it will also bring back memories of his family's connection to the New Zealand-bred Grand National winner Rhyme 'N' Reason 46 years after his victory. Back in 1988 Rhyme 'N' Reason – despite almost falling at Becher's Brook on the first circuit – eventually came home to triumph under Brendan Powell to beat Durham Edition by four lengths.
Maxwell said: "Racing for me has been a bit of a middle-aged man obsession. I started mucking around with point-to-pointers in my late 20s, then I got a few more and got a few more and just kept going. You keep finding the next iteration of the drug. It starts with what turns out to be slow three-mile chasers for pointing, then someone shows you a nice hunter chaser, then it's novice hurdlers, so there's another stage of everything, like being allowed to ride against pros.
He added: "I wouldn't say anything can happen anymore, as they've made it safer to navigate with the fences and they've made it more and more like a really good Saturday handicap. With that, I mean Corach Rambler is 4-1 favourite and he never looks like not winning, it's less and less like Foinavon could win this – but you do still get rank outsiders winning.
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