Grand National: Sean Bowen – The jockey of 1,000 wins that is allergic to horses

Bowen’s love for horses has certainly grown since childhood, even if the allergies remain.

“I’m still (allergic to horses) now a little, it’s a bit strange,” says Sean at the BBC Sport Wales.

“If dad came from clipping and there would have been hair everywhere everywhere, I would have itching for days. Even now, sometimes if I spent all morning around the horses, I would sneeze for the rest of the day.”

Bowen’s parents, Peter and Karen, trained the racing horses for 30 years, but this did not mean that he immediately took himself in sport.

“I can’t say I grew up by loving him. I liked football up to about 11 years. I started riding when I was about 10 years old,” he says.

“I suppose that both my brothers entered the ponies riding, and then I had no one to play football with, so I had to get on the ponies.”

Bowen’s younger brother will also go to Aintrene this weekend. James, who has ridden more than 400 winners, will be on board Chantry House in this year’s Grand National.

“It’s incredible – Very few people can have their brother in a changing room with them every day,” says Sean.

“When he started riding, he pushed me to do better. It is something unique enough in which we are both doing something in which we both successful.”

The brothers speak at least a couple of times a day, with James Bowen saying that it would not be a jockey but for the influence of Sean.

“I have so much admiration for him,” says James. “I think we help each other, but more than it helps me.”

The Pembrokeshire brothers had to share the booty in Cheltenham in December after a Dead Heat was recorded among their horses.

“I was finishing well and we pulled up and he (James) was depressed because he thought he had been beaten,” says Sean.

“When they called the dead heat, it was fantastic because it is one of those things you know does not happen very often, let alone happen with a brother.

“The fact that it was in Cheltenham, obviously the biggest exam in the country, was incredible. I hope it happens again.”