Welsh jockey riding in Grand National is allergic to horses

A Welshman with an allergy to horses is bidding to win this Saturday's Grand National after reaching a remarkable milestone earlier this year.

Sean Bowen rides 25-1 shot Three Card Brag at Aintree on Saturday, as he aims to achieve a childhood dream in the showpiece race.

The 27-year-old currently leads the jockey's championship - awarded to the rider with the most wins over the course of the year. With a month of the season left, Bowen appears to have an unassailable margin of 32 victories above second-placed Harry Skelton.

As he closes in on a maiden jockey's championship title, having been denied last year after cruel luck with injury, this successful campaign also saw Bowen ride his 1,000th winner back in February.

Now, the Welshman, who hails from Pembrokeshire, is seeking to cap it all off with Grand National success on the Gordon Elliott-trained eight-year-old. It's a remarkable feat, given he's allergic to horses.

"I still am (allergic to horses) now a little bit, it's a bit of a weird one," he told BBC Sport Wales.

"If dad would come in from clipping and there'd be horse hair everywhere, I'd be itching for days. Even now, sometimes if I spend all morning round horses, I'd be sneezing for the rest of the day."

His parents, Peter and Karen, have been training racehorses for 30 years, although Bowen didn't immediately take to the sport.

"I can't say I grew up loving it. I enjoyed football until I was around 11. I started riding when I was about 10," he added.

"I suppose both my brothers got into riding ponies, and then I had no-one to play football with, so I had to get on the ponies instead."

However, even if he football was his first passion, winning the Grand National has always been a target from his youth.

"I’ve dreamed of winning since I was a young boy, it’s the one race everyone has heard of, and if you win it, that can never be taken away from you," he said recently.

It's something of a family affair, with younger brother James - who has ridden more than 400 winners - is also aiming for Grand National glory as he rides Chantry House this weekend.

Sean's best ride in the Grand National was on Noble Yeats in 2023, when he finished fourth. However, as he heads into his ninth entry in Aintree's showpiece on the back of 163 victories this season, the hope is he'll be able to turn a superb season into a spectacular one.

"I've always grown up loving the Grand National and dad loves the Grand National," he said. "It's something that he always said that hopefully one day he could win.

"I'd love to win a Grand National for my family. If I did that, I think I'd have to retire because there's not much else that can top that."