It is the most eagerly anticipated race in the UK for many horse racing fans and punters.
It may not have the prestige of Cheltenham Festival’s flagship renewals, but the Grand National surely takes the spoils as the single-most anticipated race in the National Hunt calendar.
A staggering 50,000 people will cram into the Aintree track on Saturday, April 6 to watch the drama unfold, with an estimated 500 million worldwide cheering on their selections from the comfort of their own homes.
The bookmakers have released their prices for the 2019 Grand National, and it’s no surprise after his sparkling effort at Cheltenham that Tiger Roll, the defending champion, is the favourite to achieve a slice of history, becoming the first horse since Red Rum in 1973-74 to win back-to-back editions of the four-mile, three-furlong slugfest.
‘A legend’ was how Tony McCoy described Gordon Elliott’s horse after his commanding display in the Cross Country Chase at the March festival, and he once again will be expected to come up with the goods on Merseyside.
But can anybody stop him?
Betting Market Confirms Favourite’s Dominance
Often, it is a wise move following the betting market’s movements ahead of a big race to get a feel for how the horse racing community think the action will play out.
And the market spoke quite emphatically following Tiger Roll’s triumph at Cheltenham, with his odds to win the National slashed from 8/1 to 7/2 within an hour of that victory.
The eight-year-old loves the softer ground, and so if there’s rain around in the forecast ahead of the April 6 showpiece, it might be best to get the best betting offers for 2019 early and get involved before those odds tumble once more.
To offer some kind of idea of how well fancied Tiger Roll is to cement his status as a modern-day great, the next leading contender in the Grand National betting market is Anibale Fly, who can be backed at a price as long as 11/1.
Colin Tizzard’s horse has never run a trip of further than 29 furlongs, so how he’ll cope with the 35-furlong mark at Aintree for the Grand National is anybody’s guess.
Rathvinden (also 11/1) has competed over a longer distance and was an impressive winner at the Cheltenham Festival of 2018. But Willie Mullins – the festival specialist – hasn’t saddled a National champion since 2005, so there will be some reticence on the betting floor to get too heavily involved.
Outsiders Worth Chancing in Aintree Spectacle
Fans of trends and stats may enjoy this little nugget: no bookies’ favourite has won the Grand National since Don’t Push It in 2010, and if we widen the net further, we find that only three favourites have won this epic battle at Aintree in the past 20 years.
Maybe Tiger Roll isn’t such a value proposition after all…
So, if you are the canny sort that enjoys an each-way flutter, Vintage Clouds could be of interest. He has extended to 15/1 while the favourite has shortened since his Cheltenham heroics.
The grey horse has experience of running longer distances – successfully, it should be added – and the nine-year-old also has crucial pedigree in large-field races, so he won’t be perturbed by the often-chaotic scenes as 30 horses vie for glory.
Rule the World (33/1), Auroras Encore (66/1) and Mon Mome (100/1) have all won the race at ludicrous odds in the past decade, so bettors are advised not be too dismissive of those further down the market.
For such a long-distance slog, Bristol De Mai (19/1) has to be on the shortlist. The eight-year-old is a two-time Betfair Chase winner that was third in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, and that is some pedigree.
And how about Yala Enki (65/1)? Third in the Welsh Grand National, a winner of a Grand National Trial and a seventh-place finish in the Gold Cup, in which he outpaced the favourite, Presenting Percy.
But are any of these horses fit to polish the hooves of Tiger Roll, who will surely go down in history as one of the finest long-distance stayers in the business? Could he add a second Grand National title to an already glittering CV?