Amateur rider David Maxwell living the dream with ride in Grand National

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.

The 45-year-old recently bought the Henry De Bromhead-trained Ain't That A Shame – who was last of the 17 finishers under Rachael Blackmore in last year's Aintree marathon – with the sole intention of partnering in the 176th running of the world's greatest steeplechase.

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.

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Having been associated with Rhyme 'N' Reason since birth for the Maxwell family it was an emotional victory. And property developer Maxewll recalled: "My main Grand National memory is Rhyme 'N' Reason. My mother bred the horse, then my dad trained him for his first bumper wins before he went to England to be trained by David Murray Smith and latterly David Elsworth.

"I remember it like it was yesterday. He was headed in the closing stages by Durham Edition, but he was a bit of an old rogue and as soon as he hit the front, he felt like he'd done enough – and Rhyme 'N' Reason was as game as a badger and won by four lengths. The entire Maxwell family were screaming their heads off, my mother was nine months pregnant with my now 35-year-old sister. Just 10 minutes after the race, the gynaecologist was sitting next to her! He actually broke three bones in his hock when he almost came down at Becher's and he never raced again but it just goes to show how game he was."

Maxwell, himself came close to Aintree glory over the famous obstacles two years ago. He partnered Cat Tiger – who had been 12th in the Kim Muir Chase at the previous month's Cheltenham Festival – to be second in the 2022 Foxhunters' Chase on the opening day of the Grand National meeting. Cat Tiger, who was also owned by Maxwell and sported his regonisable red and brown-sleeved colours, was beaten a length-and-a-quarter into second by another Grand National hopeful for this year's race Latenightpass.

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Maxwell said: "Cat Tiger pings round there and was second to Latenightpass in the Foxhunters' – and of course Latenightpass is in the National this year. He's not over-big but he's very game. The Foxhunters' is actually the only race I've been down at the start thinking 'this might not actually be a good idea', but then you get called in, do a slap down the shoulder, as much for yourself as the horse, and just get on with it."

As ever the participation of amateur jockeys riding in the race will come under scrutiny. But having ridden for more than a decade in point-to-points and Under Rules, Maxwell meets all the requirements needed to take part. And it is ony two years since amateur jockey Sam Waley-Cohen's landed a fairytale win on the Emmet Mullins-trained Noble Yeats on his final ride on a racetrack.

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. I suppose the ultimate of it all is riding in the National. I don't know if there's anything in the theory of amateurs having a good record in it because some liken it to hunting. My theory is, if you are in the National, you can win it, all the cards are thrown in the air."

Maxwell's partner is trained in Ireland by Henry de Bromhead, who won the National with Minella Times – famously ridden by Blackmore, and as well as having experience of the National itself he has already won one of Ireland's top handicaps and a recognised stepping stone to Aintree in the Thyestes Chase at Gowran Park in January. Maxwell went over to Ireland to school him ahead of his return to Merseyside this coming weekend. Ain't That A Shame is a 66-1 outsider with several bookmakers behind last year's winner and favourite Corach Rambler, who is a best-priced 11-2 with Betfred but shorter with most of the other bookmakers.

The 45-year-old amateur rider said: "He's a nice horse, I went and schooled him last week and he's a lovely horse. He must have a reasonable chance but I'm actually looking forward to going hunter chasing with him the year after next when he's 12. The Thyestes is always a good race and the fact that he didn't go to Cheltenham must stand him in good stead too. It's clearly going to be soft ground and obviously we all hope it doesn't rain too much, but what we really would want is for it to stop raining about three days before the race, as then the ground would start becoming really hard work. If it's just wet and sloppy, then it's much easier to get through it."

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This year the Grand National will only have 34 runners rather than the traditional 40. It is one of a number of measures taken by Aintree Racecourse and The Jockey Club to try and make the race safer following the animal rights protests and the death of Hill Sixteen in last year's Grand National. Maxwell believes it is a step in the right direction.

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. This year, there are three amateurs in the race, so there's around a nine per cent chance of an amateur winning it. The race has changed, you've got to have a touch of class now. But the world changes all the time.

"In racing, we are fond of knocking ourselves but racing has done a really good job here of making it safer. Every year, a lot of thought goes into it and this year it is no exception, with the field reduced to 34 and perhaps the best idea is making the run to the first fence shorter. Nobody wants to see fallers, we're all animal lovers, so these changes make it a bit safer, there's no point us continuing with our head in the sand. If we proceed thinking the world is the same as it was before – it's not. It's right that the Jockey Club and the BHA have made these changes to make the race safer. If you have a horse who is a safe conveyance and stays four miles, the likelihood is these days that you will get round – and then you get the situation where the best handicapped horse wins."

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The current going at Aintree is soft on the Milmay and Hurdle course and soft, heavy in places on the Grand National course. The weather has been changeable over the last fews days with rain, periods of sunshine and some strong winds. There is expected to be more rain over the next three days but the three days of the meeting are forecast to mostly dry with some sunshine. It appears likely that the meeting will start on soft conditions at best.

Aintree's clerk of the course and Head of Racing Sulekha Varma, speaking to the Liverpool ECHO, said: "It is soft on the Mildmay and Hurdles courses and soft, heavy in places on the Grand National course. The heavy ground being from halfway between Becher's (Brook) and Foinavon and right the way around to fence 11. That is all the heavier ground. it has been wet but we are getting these windy weather and it is helping to dry things out again. It looks like we are going to get some heavy rain these next three days. But the three days of racing are looking alright. I don't think they are going to be three days of glorious sunshine but it is not as wet as it has been. Perhaps there will be a few showers, but generally it is not looking too bad. I would imagine given the rain coming in, the meeting will start on soft ground at least."

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