Grand National 2018: Five magic stories ready to be written

They say there is a good story behind every Randox Health Grand National winner and if that is the case then the below should be on any shortlist.

Here are the headlines waiting to be written:

Katie Walsh guides lucky racegoers around the Grand National course on Friday (The Jockey Club)

A female jockey has yet to win the big one but on Saturday a record three of them - Katie Walsh, Bryony Frost and Rachael Blackmore - get the chance to make history.

Walsh will join Nina Carberry as the most experienced Grand National female rider, having completed the course in four of her five attempts, and she was third on Seabass in 2012.

On Saturday she partners the well-backed mud-loving mare Baie Des Isles (16-1), trained by her husband Ross O’Sullivan.

Frost, 23 on Friday, has been one of the success stories of this season and has already clicked on Milansbar (33-1) this season, while Blackmore, 28, will partner Alpha Des Obeaux.

The last-named is trained by chain smoker Mouse Morris, famed for wearing his “lucky” yellow Mickey Mouse tie on big occasions and was a winner with Rule the World in 2016.

James Bowen wins the Welsh National (PA)

James Bowen only turned 17 last month and if he wins on Shantou Flyer (33-1) will become the youngest jockey to win the race.

Bruce Hobbs was also 17 when he won on Battleship in 1938 but Bowen, hailed by many as a future champion, will be a couple of months younger.

His older brother, Sean, is riding Warriors Tale for those who fancy the idea of the pair of them fighting out the finish.

Shantou Flyer is trained by former jockey Richard Hobson, 40, who will be having his first runner in the race and is owned by Carl Hinchy, who grew up in Southport and recalls watching Grand National legend Red Rum work on the beach there.

Hinchy, 49, has attended Aintree races since he was a teenager and is a solicitor who specialises in personal injury.

Carlingford Lough represents octogenarian Kiely (PA)

John Kiely has never been one to seek the limelight but the octogenarian will find himself thrust into it if Carlingford Lough, his first runner in the race, does the business.

Kiely began training in 1974 - the year Red Rum won his second National - and has forgotten more about the sport than many of his peers now know.

He has rarely trained more than 15 horses at a time but is recognised as one of the shrewdest around and his handling of Carlingford Lough, a five-time Grade One winner, has been masterful.

The one pity for Kiely, no doubt, is that he himself will not be able to ride the 50-1 chance.

He won the Irish Champion Hurdle aboard Mr Twomey in 1967 and only called time on his career as an amateur rider in 1996, when he was 59.

Gas Line Boy has a strong Liverpool link (PA)

Gas Line Boy (25-1) is owned by friends Peter Thwaites and Peter Le Gros, who call themselves the The Three Graces syndicate.

Thwaites lives near Southport and worked in the construction industry before retiring, while Wirral-based Le Gros was born in Liverpool and has a steel fabrication business.

The partnership is named after the Three Graces of the Liverpool skyline - the Royal Liver Building, the Cunard Building and Port Of Liverpool Building.

Trainer Ian Williams, 49, spent three years as an assistant to dual Grand National-winning trainer Jenny Pitman and has enjoyed more than 1,000 winners.

Jockey Robbie Dunne did not sit on a horse until he was 14 and had 176 rides before having his first winner. He has ridden in the National twice before - finishing third on Vics Canvas in 2016 and fifth on Gas Line Boy in 2017.

Total Recall is very much a family concern (PA)

Science fiction movie Total Recall, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, had a reported budget of about $65 million and was one of the most expensive films made on release.

The equine Total Recall (12-1) cost considerably less - he initially changed hands for just 7,000 euros - but the bargain buy is a leading fancy to win the £500,000 first prize up for grabs.

Total Recall is owned by the Slaneyville Syndicate, which is made up of eight siblings - seven brothers and one sister - from Tullow in Co Carlow. There were originally nine members but one of the siblings, Catherine, passed away recently.

The Slaneyville Syndicate have two other horses - Acapella Bourgeois and Dolciano Dici - and all three were moved to Willie Mullins this season after the retirement of Sandra Hughes.

Serial Irish champion Mullins, who won the National with Hedgehunter in 2005, needs no introduction but many forget that he also rode in the big race when an amateur jockey.

His rides included The Lads Master, who ran out in 1983, and Hazy Dawn, who fell a year later.