The Grand National Horse Race Aintree England Betting

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The Grand National

Just as The Queen, The Derby, or indeed London, needs no qualifier, so 'The Grand National' needs no soubriquet. However, just in case there is doubt, I can clarify that The Grand National steeplechase is run at Aintree, which is just outside Liverpool in England. The next running will be on 4th April 2009.

Amazingly, the winner of the very first Grand National, back in 1829, was a horse called Lottery. When I first heard this fact, I naively thought that this horse subsequently gave its name to the form of gambling, which we know as a lottery. However, the power of the internet reveals that the word lottery originates from French and Dutch roots back in the 15th century.

Betting on The Grand National

The Grand National is ideally suited to a sweepstake, you are guaranteed over 30 runners, with no short priced favourite. Also, unlike the flat racing classics, the Grand National is for older horses, many of whom are already well known to the public. This all adds to the interest in an office sweepstake, and a flutter on the big race.

Our advice is that if you do have a bet on the Grand National, always back on the nose (win only). Prefer long shots, because in the unlikely event that your horse wins, at least you win big. Another suggestion is that if you do draw a horse in the office sweepstakes, then also back the horse with the bookmaker. At all costs avoid the fate of our friend 'Mad' Mick who won £3.50 on the office sweepstake, but then had to buy a round of drinks that cost £75, just because he had the winner of the Grand National.

Recent form figures are of little use over this marathon course. Most horses are trained specifically for the Grand National, yet they are given preparation races over much shorter distances, thus their form figures are poor and irrelevant. The main factor that makes this such a difficult race to win is the Aintree fences; they are higher, wider and there are more of them than for races on other courses.

Out of the horse's mouth:
Horse sense is the thing a horse has which keeps it from betting on people. WC Fields

Winner of the 2007 Grand National - Silver Birch at 33/1

Bets that everyone loves - especially bookies - are co-incidence bets, here are a rash of stories from the 2007 running of the Grand National.

Punters at a pub called 'The Silver Birch' scooped £60,000 [$119,483.79USD] by backing their local's namesake in the 2007 Grand National. One drinker took the lion's share, raking in £50,000 from a £1,000 each way bet at 40-1, reports The Mirror newspaper.

The Irish-bred outsider escaped the attention of most gamblers, but the pub in Birchwood, Cheshire was home to some 21 winners. Landlady Janette Kelly, 42, who won almost £45, said one female regular took home £800 while a barman won another £200, but the £50,000 big winner was keeping quiet. Kelly said, 'Nobody got all the drinks in after the race - but the atmosphere in the pub was amazing.'

They weren't the only pub toasting success as bets piled in from Silver Birch boozers in Cowdenbeath, Scotland; Manchester and Bracknell, Berkshire. Residents and staff at the Silver Birches OAP home in Birmingham also won.

What newspapers never publish are an equal, or greater, number of losing bets on other horses with catchy names. In 2007 these horses with enticing names ran in the Grand National, but lost, I wonder how many bets they attracted? Simon, Joe's Edge, PhilSon Run and Jack High.

Grand National 2008

The winner was 'Comply or Die', one wag said: 'Is that the name of the Aintree winner, or and edict to President Mugabe?'

Amazing Bet

On the 23rd of February 2008, Fred Craggs from Thirsk in Yorkshire, UK landed an amazing bet, his eight horse accumulator won at odds of 2 million to 1. Fred is the first person to win a million pounds in a betting shop in the UK. Astonishingly, he only bet 50p [$1]. The first horse to win was called:

Fairy Tale Win - Purple Kipper

Picture this, about six of us were gathered in the pub one Friday evening. 'Top Cat' our racing expert gave us a hot tip for Red Herring in the 3:00 at Sandown Park. 'It's sure to win, so have a good bet tomorrow', TC said. Well, Saturday arrived but it was not Red Herring's day. Despite leading most of the way he hit the last fence hard, and was beaten in to second place on the run to the line. We bet on Red Herring only to win, consequently we lost our money.

I say we all lost our money, but not so Dave. He was not paying full attention when TC gave us the tip, consequently, when Dave looked down the list of Saturday's runners, and spotted one called Purple Kipper, it fired a vague memory of TC's tip. The upshot was Dave went out and bet £20 on Purple Kipper to win.

Now on Saturdays there a multiple race meetings; Purple Kipper ran, and duly won the 3:30 at Stratford, whereas Red Herring came 2nd in the 3:00 at Sandown. What made the story even more remarkable was that Red Herring's odds were 3/1 whereas Purple Kippers were 25/1.

The Grand National