Former Ospreys centre David Bishop has been retired for over a decade, but his sporting journey continues in a markedly different way.
Having once been a part of the Galacticos era – playing alongside the likes of Shane Williams, Justin Marshall, Gavin Henson and Jerry Collins – the 42-year-old is now chasing Grand National history.
Having swapped the field for the training yard, Bishop now serves as stable yard manager at his partner Rebecca Curtis’ Pembrokeshire base.
Leading racehorse trainer Curtis, of course, trains Haiti Couleurs – a horse seeking a unique piece of history in Saturday’s Grand National at Aintree.
The Aintree classic has not produced a Welsh winner since the Pembrokeshire-trained Kirkland triumphed by three lengths way back in 1905.
As well as ending 121 years of waiting, victory for Haiti Couleurs would also create a small piece of turf history – having already won the Irish and Welsh Nationals.
For Bishop, whose playing days were brought to a premature end in 2015 after struggling with a severe knee injury, horse racing has kept him within the sporting world after hanging up his boots.
“My injury meant I had to stop playing before I wanted to and I wasn’t able to be the same player that I was before I suffered it,” said Bishop last year. “So horse racing has given me a new lease of life. It’s a very different sport, but I can get the same buzz.”
Bishop, a Wales U21s international who had broken into the Wales squad right before injury struck, admits it’s a different experience being involved in horse racing.
“I actually get more nervous before a big race than I used to get before a rugby match,” he said ahead of last year’s Welsh Grand National at Chepstow, which Haiti Couleurs won.
“That’s because in racing, you put in all the hard work and have no control whatsoever over the result.
“At least when you put your boots on, you effect the outcome.”
His passion for racing predates his relationship with Curtis and even his rugby career.
“I always had a passion for racing, even before I met Becky,” he said back in December. “My dad kept horses when I was growing up in the Rhondda and my grandad, Eddie Lewis, who played openside flanker for Cardiff, used to train greyhounds.
“So, I always knew about racing.”