'I had no faith in him' - John Walsh recounts the uninspiring but fascinating early years of Corach Rambler

The romance of the Grand National may have been diluted somewhat as modernisations transform the nature of the grand old race, but Aintree's famous fences retain the capacity to create stories that resonate beyond the racing world.

If Corach Rambler were to provide Lucinda Russell and Peter Scudamore with a second winner of the race just weeks after the death of their beloved first, One For Arthur, the nine-year-old would become the latest unique character to make an indelible mark on Aintree.

With one US president in Ireland reconnecting with his roots this week, Corach Rambler's own formative years were spent not far from the ancestral homestead of another.