From thousands of applications received, the race organisers initially whittled the field down to 32 novice riders who attended gruelling assessment weekends at the British Racing School, Newmarket and the Northern Racing College, Doncaster in a bid to win a place in the starting line-up.
From there, 14 riders were selected for the training stage of the competition and assigned a professional trainer who put them through an intensive training programme to ensure they would be ready for the big day.
With only ten places on offer in the race, the contenders faced their final challenge on Sunday, March 16 when an expert judging panel - including jockey instructors Richard Perham and Malcolm Bygrave and BBC racing presenter Clare Balding - once again put them through their paces at Southwell racecourse.
After a tense final morning's assessment, which included two action-packed hours on course at Southwell, the judging panel made their final decision based on individual riding ability, technique and stamina.
Sheila Dickson commented: "This is a chance of a lifetime. If I had my time again I would love to pursue a career as an amateur rider. I have two children aged seven and ten who are really excited about seeing their mum on TV. I'm not just going for a ride round Aintree and am going to be riding to win the race!"
The riders who will go forward and compete in the nine furlong race on Grand National Day are: Jane Belcher, Jamie Plummer, Lynda Evans, Clare Twemlow, Stewart Bellas, Gary Lynch, Sheila Dickson, Amanda Craven, Johnny Ferguson and Jaclyn Jamieson.
Ladbrokes, the UK's leading High Street bookmaker and supporter of the John Smith's People's Race, is contributing £50,000 to the race prize fund. Organisers hope to raise £500,000 for charities which include Sport Relief (this year's official race charity) and other good causes nominated by the competitors. Sheila will be competing for the Great North Air Ambulance.
Each of the jockeys taking part in the race will collect £5,000 for their chosen charity and the winner of the John Smith's People's Race will collect £50,000 for their charity plus a five-star trip for two to Dubai for racing's 2009 World Cup.
Sarah Warby, marketing director for John Smith's at brand owners Scottish & Newcastle UK said; "Last year's riders were of a very high standard but the quality this year has exceeded our wildest dreams.
"Choosing the final ten was especially tough because the standard was so high and we'd like to congratulate everyone who reached the final assessment day and thank everyone who entered this year's competition.
"Over the past few weeks we have worked with some the very best racing professionals and we are confident that the Aintree 10 will put on a race that will be a worthy addition to the John Smith's Grand National card. We look forward to welcoming them to Aintree and wish everyone the best of luck on Grand National Day."