SIMON NOTT BETTING BLOG: Grand National 2024

So here we are, going into the biggest day in the racing calendar, the excitement was palpable although slightly tainted by the small matter of being £25,000 plus expenses down going into it. As I said though, this is the biggest betting day of the racing year. Hope sprang eternal as Nick, Lofty and head of on course Steve replacing Hannah got to work on the first, writes SIMON NOTT.

1:20 – William Hill Handicap Hurdle (Premier Handicap) 3m1f

Betting on the first was very slow by this week’s standards. At 1pm the book had barely scraped a grand in what Lofty described as ‘very small’ bets. As you expect though, the racecourse was heaving, people were taking photos, getting drinks and looking around rather than betting. As the horses went to post that take had risen to over £3000 thanks to a bet of £10,000 – £2000 Gwennie May Boy. That was the biggest business done, at the off the book held just under £4000 with the bogie losing just under £10,000.

How do they know? One big bet on a horse that won as it liked. Gwennie May Boy absolutely bolted up and started the day off in the worst possible fashion. With that result, I got a message from my mum who goes by the name of Gwen, she was watching from home and very excited by the name of the first winner. Well it made Lofty and I laugh, yes, Lofty, laughing. The office won on the race, their message read ‘The worst winning result, but we’re not complaining’

1:55 – Turners Mersey Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1) 2m4f

The betting on the next race came alive much sooner with a bet of £11,000 – £4000 Ile Atlantique that was followed by a fallow period before a bet of £5000 – £4000 the favourite Brighterdaysahead which levelled things up just a tad. At the off the losers lost £5000 and £2000 respectively with everything else a good winner of course. The message from the office read ‘One horse book, we need Brighterdaysahead beat’.

They just keep winning. The only saving grace of Brighterdaysahead winning at 6/5 was that he was the least bad of the losers in the book. However, the office message appeared very ominous.

2:30 – William Hill Handicap Chase (Registered As The Freebooter Handicap Chase) (Premier Handicap) 3m1f

Still, the show must go on, Nick, Lofty and Steve got to work on the next where they bet 4/1 the field. It looked a tough one for punters to solve which possibly accounted for their limited betting early on. While things were quiet I was treated to an unavoidable eavesdropping of three chirpy young ladies taking it in turns to shout ‘Where the heck are you’ or words to that effect down a phone. Where ever the heck they were they didn’t appear to be in any rush to join them, making them even chirpier!

Meanwhile back at the coal face business had picked up markedly. ‘This is the busiest it’s been with public money all week’ was Lofty’s observation. Then a bit of lumpier money came in £14,000 – £4000 The King Of Ryhope. At the off the book held £5750 with the bogie taking out £13767.

This time the race went the way of the book. In fact I’d go so far as to say the firm got more than their whack on the 9/1 winner Cruz Control. ‘A virtual skinner’ boomed a jubilant Lofty who had just made it back from a mid race ablution break. Ladies and Gentlemen, Star Sports on course were back in the game. The office didn’t fare quite so well, but at least they had a winning race, their message was ‘Another worst winner scenario for us, we took lots of bets race to smaller stakes’.

3:05 – JRL Group Liverpool Hurdle (Grade 1) 3m½f

Business was better in the next, the guys were busy tapping away and had fielded around £6000 worth of bets as the horses went down to the post. They had a nice tidy book that they were happy with then bump, there was a bet of £20,000 – £6000 requested, and laid Flooring Porter. ‘That’s it now’ observed Lofty, ‘We get out or sink without a trace here’.

I was preparing to ask the content team to search out a Titanic photo, or a ‘Glug Glug’ meme to try and make light of the firm doing their cobblers. But no! Flooring Porter led for much of the way then capitulated where previous bogies had upped a gear. It was then a case of which one was best for the firm. ‘The one in front is’ screamed Lofty, the one in front going further in front was 8/1 Strong Leader. His victory meant a £10,000 cop in the book which put Star Sports on course £5000 in front after an inauspicious start and the Grand National to come. The office message from the race was ‘No huge bets but a nice result to take us to the National’.

4:00 – Randox GRAND NATIONAL Handicap Chase (Premier Handicap) 4m2½f

Betting in the Grand National really stepped a gear. The office reported a bet of £120,000 – £10,000 Meetingofthewaters while on the pitch the bets were flying in, £11,000 – £1000 Panda Boy, £12,000 – £1000 Vanillier, £18,000 – £2000 Limerick Lace, £35,000 – £2500 Kitty’s Light, £28,000 – £2000 Mahler Mission, £32,000 – £4000 and £4000 – £500 each-way Corach Rambler.

Looking into the book Lofty was cook-a-hoop, ‘Bloody hell, we’ve laid a £12,000 – £1000 a horse that still wins us’. Personally I was horrified, all those bets that could have been called as fractions that weren’t, my work educating punters on fractions is far from done.’

The absolute bogie Corach Rambler came down at the first so robbed us of what might have been. Mahler’s Mission fell later in the race. Kitty’s Light gave everyone a thrill eventually finishing a gallant fifth. The race went to the 7/1 joint favourite I Am Maximus, another favourite. All was not as it seemed though, the winner had been popular with the public but the bigger punters hadn’t latched on to him. The firm won £12,500 over the jolly. How it had spun around, with two races to go, it may have been wishing a little too much to expect to win on the three days with £7,500 needed to break even on the week on course, but the guys were going to give it a good go. It looked doable, until it started to rain.

5:00 – My Pension Expert Maghull Novices’ Chase (Grade 1) 2m

At least one punter off course was still keen to get stuck in investing a walloping £50,000 on Found A Fifty at 13/8 in the office. The rain on course didn’t amount to much and certainly didn’t deter a punter having £7000 on the same horse, but at 7/4, with Star on the rails, come racing. That bet got the heat going nicely while Nick and Steve paid out the winners over the National. Now a winning or at least face wiping meeting was perfectly possible with the big bet in the book.

I spoke too soon about the rain, as they were presenting the delighted connections of I Am Maximus with the Grand National trophy it rained hard enough to send many of the punters in front of the joint running for cover. That gave Lofty time to check the number of finishers in the Grand National, there were 21 which would have delighted those that took advantage of Star’s ‘ALL OVER THE PLACE’ offer online.

The bookmakers betting along the rail in Tattersalls appeared to be badly affected by the rain, there was hardly a punter in front of them. However, as the field was going to the start Lofty, Steve and Nick had managed to take a further £2500 on top of the lump. At the off the favourite was a loser in the book for £13,000, so the team needed it beaten, sink or swim time again. The office came back to me with a summary of the Grand National, the winner was there worst result but with the caveat that the places helped.

Lofty got him home. Just when it looked as if Master Chewy might deprive Found A Fifty as the pair battled it out close home. He bloody did it didn’t he, gave the ‘Aye Aye – Chewy’ before it had won. That made a £21,000 difference to the book, inevitably after a premature celebration Chewy didn’t win, the favourite got back up. I’m blaming Lofty, the cup of winning on the week was cruelly snatched from the now very wet team’s lips. That last race would be a slog. And spare a thought for the office, they’d laid £50,000 at 13/8 the winner. They didn’t need to say much ‘Another fav and further pain’. Ben sent me a text, it simply read ‘exhausting’. Quite.

5:35 – Weatherbys nhstallions.co.uk Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race (Grade 2) 2m1f

Give the guys their due, they got their heads down and grafted on the last. MacBet a couple pitches up had a queue back to the stands, it wasn’t just Star Sports that had their hearts broken in the penultimate. The lucky last got more interesting when a punter span up £6750 he had to come from an earlier bet on the 15/8 favourite here, that favourite being Mister Meggit. At the off the jolly was losing £13,000 with £9000 in the book.

Aye Aye Fergal O’Brien and 14/1 winner Horace’s Pearl which won the last, it was a cracking result to conclude a losing meeting but a winning day. The final word from the office was 17.35. We end with another lower staking event and another small winner. We’re back at Cheltenham on Wednesday. It’s only lent.

Saturday’s Racing Post results ….