It’s Grand National week and we, at Paddy Tower, are more excited than Jose Mourinho when he has an out-of-favour first-teamer to alienate.
Aintree’s famous course is the venue and it has provided some wonderful moments over the years. Who’ll ever forget an emotional win for trainer Mouse Morris last year or the legendary AP McCoy’s first win at his 15th attempt on Don’t Push It in 2010?
This year another set of 40 horses and jockeys go in search of their place in sporting folklore, but ‘how to pick the winner?’ I hear you ask.
Don’t fret. As always, Paddy’s got your back – we’ve had our racing boffins delve deep into the record books to come up with some spectacular stats to help you on your quest for a National pick.
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Green is the colour
Ladies Day may be on Friday but, for those interested in the equine fashion of recent victors, the colour green emerges as the most in-style over the last 10 years. Since 2007, four winners of the famous race have featured a jockey clad predominantly in green on board.
Joint-favourites Vieux Lion Rouge and Definitly Red – who are both currently available at 10/1 – will enter the parade ring at Aintree sporting a green rider and it wouldn’t be a surprise if they ‘catwalked’ to victory.
However, we must throw in a word of warning for favourite fanciers though, as a horse heading the betting market hasn’t won the Grand National since Hedgehunter all the way back in 2005.
A numbers game
For all you number crunchers out there, check this out. Numbers between 1-9 have won the race three times in the last decade, so the likes of More of That (number 2) at 12/1 or a 14/1 punt on The Last Samuri (number 1) might be the safest place for your hard-earned cash come off-time.
However, two of the last three winners have had the number 29 on their back. The Paul Nicholls-trained Vicente holds that honour this year and can be grabbed at 20/1. Elsewhere, six comes out as the luckiest digit in the last 50 years with seven wins in the showpiece, so it might well be worth keeping an eye Gordon Elliott’s Roi Des Francs at 50/1.
What are the odds?
Finally, if you’ve been ogling the odds you might be surprised to learn that no horse with odds of under 14/1 was won the National since 2010.
In fact, the last five victors at Aintree have come at an average winning price of 36.4/1 after the victors rolled in at 33/1, 25/1, 25/1, 66/1 and 33/1.
Hopefully you now have a clearer picture of all the top trends heading into the sport’s most famous race. And don’t worry, whatever horse you pick, we’ll have you covered with all the best punts at PaddyPower.com
Jump over to all the latest racing odds on PaddyPower.com
* All prices correct at time of posting.