DAUNTING.That's one word to describe the Grand National.

And that's just for punters trying to figure out a race that attracts 40 runners doing battle over four-and-a-half miles and negotiating the small matter of 30 fearsome fences.

There is simply nothing like the famous old Aintree showpiece in the British sporting calendar.

Ask Tony McCoy. He has won everything there is to win and smashed record after record. But he hasn't got the National on his otherwiseperfect CV and would give his right arm to put that right.

John Francome never won it, and neither did Peter Scudamore. Luck plays such an enormous part. The first winner in 1839 was called Lottery, which says it all. It's not just the famous fences, such as Becher's Brook and The Chair, that can bring about a horse and his partner's downfall. The sheer number of runners plays its part too - McCoy was tanking along on the second circuit on Clan Royal in 2005 only for a loose horse to run across him and dislodge the partnership.

Who will ever forget Devon Loch's unfathomable eclipse under Dick Francis in 1956 when he seemed to jump an imaginary fence yards from the post, his chance in the great race ebbing away in the process?

That is part of Aintree legend, as is triple winner Red Rum, the one horse most ordinary folk in the high street could name. Golden Miller won an unequalled five Gold Cups, but does not have a remotely similar profile. How fitting it would be if Donald McCain, son of Rummy's w-retired trainer Ginger, could land the great prize with ante-post favourite Cloudy Lane. That really would be fairytale stuff.

The occasion is afforded bags of colour by racegoers who come in all shapes and sizes, over 60,000 of them on the big day. Although it may only be April, the ladies get their outfits ready well in advance and inclement weather does not force a late change of plan.

All that is needed now is for someone to etch their name into sporting history. There will be twists and turns along the way and for 10 minutes, the world will be watching.