2011 Grand National, Weird And Wonderful Bets
The Grand National has long been synonymous with serious punters looking for the best way to increase their money by picking a runner that they believe can win; despite this, there have been many occasions during the history of this prestigious horse racing event that have seen a variety of weird and wonderful bets placed…
These odd bets can fall anywhere between the sublime, the optimistic and the down-right delirious. One particular optimist came in the form a Mr Peter Walker in 1993; at the ripe old age of 54, he placed a bet with UK bookmakers William Hill that he would be the oldest person to ever participate in the Grand National – rather unsurprisingly, this amateur ride managed to secure himself a bet that was made with odds of 1000/1.
Bizarre Grand National betting does not end there; the 1993 Grand National saw the race cancelled following incredibly bad false-start mix-up. Spookily, a Mrs Judy Hugby had tried to place a bet with her bookmakers that the race would not get underway; unfortunately, her bookmaker thought he would be doing her a disservice by taking her money, as he believed such a cancellation was impossible!
A massive Grand National success story is that of Terry Ramsden who, in 1986, wagered over £100,000 on a horse he owned, Mr Snugfit. Things looked bleak for Terry as Mr Snugfit had a full twenty horses in front of him as he approached the final three fences of the race; fortunately, jockey Phil Tuck managed to pull it out of the bag and overtake all but three of them. Mr Snugfit eventually finished in a respectable fourth place and, more importantly, managed to earn his owner a tidy profit courtesy of the each-way bets he had placed on the horse. In another unbelievable tale of Grand National good fortune: in 1971, Lord Poulett had a dream that his horse, The Lamb, would win the Grand National if ridden by jockey Tommy Pickernell. Poulett subsequently hired Pickernell and the The Lamb went on to win the race…
There are plenty more weird and wonderful Grand National tales just waiting to be told; simply visit your preferred online bookmaker, take advantage of their generous promotions and free bets you too could find yourself written into Grand National history!