By Cornelius Lysaght BBC racing correspondent

They are the two most unlikely statistics in racing, and arguably amongst the most curious in the whole of sport.

The two current outstanding figures in jump racing, Tony McCoy the champion jockey, and Paul Nicholls his trainer equivalent, have the same gaping hole in their respective CVs.

Mr Pointment will hope to give Paul Nicholls a National win

Despite each man's numerous successes at the very highest level, the Grand National, the best known prize of them all, has so far eluded both.

It would be like Arsenal never ever having won the FA Cup, or Middlesex cricket's County Championship.

McCoy, who is lining up for a 13th time in the race, tries to improve on three third positions with this year's mount Butler's Cabin. The bad news is that he's endured conspicuously miserable luck with many of mounts one to 12.

The carrying out of Clan Royal by a loose horse, when moving well quite late on in 2005, is a favourite dramatic episode - for all but the champion - in recent Aintree history.

Other strong McCoy fancies have departed early on, like Challenger Du Luc at the first fence (1998) and Dark Stranger at the third (2000).

Likewise, Paul Nicholls has saddled many fancied Aintree runners - Deep Bramble (pulled up, 1996) and Double Thriller (fell first, 1999) spring readily to mind - but only six out of 37 have even completed the gruelling course, though Royal Auclair was runner-up in 2005.

And the fact that last year's winner Silver Birch had previously been part of the powerful, Somerset-based Nicholls team, before being sold, added to the feeling that somehow this prize was jinxed for the champion trainer.

This time around, he comes into the race after a superb Cheltenham Festival with Mr Pointment, sure-footed winner of Aintree's Becher Chase in November, leading the charge.

606: DEBATE I'd be surprised if at least one of Hedgehunter, Knowhere or Mr Pointment don't make the frame. Championship Point

But actually, the fact that big cheeses like McCoy and Nicholls, and others, have missed out (so far) is one of the reasons why this race above all has such a broad appeal.

Not only is it the people's race, the down-to-earth gritty prize for down-to-earth gritty folk staged in a down-to-earth, gritty part of the world.

But unlike pretty much any other high-profile racing event - and indeed most other sporting trophies, most of the time - almost anyone just might win the Grand National. That's why so many of us love a flutter.

So will McCoy and Nicholls finally conquer this particular summit?

Having only recently returned after a serious back injury, success for McCoy on Butler's Cabin, owned by businessman JP McManus and trained by Jonjo O'Neill (neither of whom have won it either), would be a proper Aintree fairytale.

But the horse has been a touch disappointing, and the same applies to Mr Pointment's last run, though Nicholls does have several with chances.

The fact is that any of the 40 that take part could win a race that is bigger than all of them.