Grand National 2018: Cornelius Lysaght’s ones to watch in Aintree race

A year on from One For Arthur providing Scotland with its first Grand National success since Rubstic in 1979 – and only second in history – the injured One For Arthur is missing, but compatriots Seeyouatmidnight and Captain Redbeard are seeking a Scottish encore.

It’s been touch and go whether the Sandy Thomson-trained Seeyouatmidnight would make the line-up after bad weather, and the resulting cancelled fixtures, did its best to scupper the horse’s chances of competing in just one race this season, which is now a qualifying factor.

However, a chase was found at Newbury for the 10-year-old, who was sold this week by his previous owner, Thomson’s wife Quona, to race in the silks of Patricia Thompson – note the extra ‘p’ – who famously purchased the 1992 winner Party Politics just before that race.

The Berwickshire-based trainer, whose grandfather bred 1930s and 40s Grand National regular MacMoffat, once played rugby for Scotland B.

Speaking of a possible repeat for racing north of the border, he said: “We hadn’t won the Grand Slam for about 60 years, and then along came two nearly in a row (in 1984 and 1990), so you never know.”