The big question on everyone’s mind when it came to the 2020 Aintree Grand National was ‘Could Tiger Roll make it three in a row?’. Even the great Red Rum fell short of that achievement but he did win it three times in 1973, ’74 and ’77 . COVID19 may have just about every sporting event on the calender cancelled but on Saturday 4th April ITV have decided the show must go on!
The virtual version of the famous race will go ahead this weekend on terrestrial television – and the proceeds will go towards the NHS in the fight against Covid-19. But how exactly does the 2020 Virtual Aintree Grand National work?
Well the race is obviously designed through computer generated imaging (CGI) and will be run over all 30 jumps of the Aintree course. There are many algorithms fed into the race, including the likely weather conditions, recent form, form on the track, weight, age and some others that all combined would give us the most likely winner.
The Aintree Grand National has always attracted the once a year punter. All sorts of selection processes from lucky number, favourite colour, catchy name or a pin in the paper take place in houses across the globe to find their winner. This year is no different as punters gamble in the knowledge that the much needed profits from the bets will go to a worthy cause.
There has been virtual racing of the Grand National before that has seen some very close predictions but these races hadn’t been televised. In 2017 Cause of Causes won the virtual race and came a very close second in the real race. The following year the algorithms got it bang on the nose as it predicted a victory for Tiger Roll, while last year it got three out of the five horses right.
We are all desperate for a bit of sport to look forward to and this might just give us something to look forward to. It wouldn’t really work with any other sport. So if you have some spare time on your hands (joke) then tune in to ITV just after 5pm (5.15pm start) and enjoy the closest thing we have to the big race. Oh and if you place a bet with your regular bookmaker you should get to see the race through their site as is always the case.
All that’s left is to leave you with the runners and riders, enjoy!
Number, name, jockey, odds, weight:
1 Tiger Roll, Davy Russell, 5-1, 11-10
2 Bristol De Mai, Daryl Jacob, 20-1, 11-8
3 Aso, Charlie Deutsch, 66-1, 11-2
4 Elegant Escape, Jonjo O’Neill jnr, 20-1, 11-2
5 Anibale Fly, Barry Geraghty, 20-1, 11-2
6 Top Ville Ben, Tom Dowson, 45-1, 11-2
7 Beware The Bear, Jerry McGrath, 33-1, 11-0
8 Peregrine Run, Kevin Sexton, 66-1, 10-13
9 Jett, Sam Waley-Cohen, 50-1, 10-13
10 Alpha Des Obeaux, Richard Johnson, 25-1, 10-13
11 Total Recall, Paul Townend, 40-1, 10-13
12 The Storyteller, Keith Donoghue, 40-1, 10-12
13 Magic Of Light, Robbie Power, 18-1, 10-12
14 Talkischeap, Tom Cannon, 25-1, 10-11
15 Yala Enki, Bryony Frost, 28-1, 10-11
16 Ballyoptic, Sam Twiston-Davies, 25-1, 10-11
17 Burrows Saint, Rachael Blackmore, 12-1, 10-10
18 Definitly Red, Brian Hughes, 14-1, 10-10
19 Sub Lieutenant, JJ Slevin, 33-1, 10-9
20 Ok Corral, Derek O’Connor, 25-1, 10-9
21 Tout Est Permis, Sean Flanagan, 80-1, 10-9
22 Vintage Clouds, Danny Cook, 33/1, 10-8
23 Crievehill, Tom Bellamy, 66-1, 10-8
24 Lake View Lad, Henry Brooke, 50-1, 10-8
25 Jury Duty, Mark Enright, 40-1, 10-8
26 Pleasant Company, David Mullins, 28-1, 10-7
27 Acapella Bourgeois, Danny Mullins, 33-1, 10-6
28 Shattered Love, Lisa O’Neill, 66-1, 10-6
29 Any Second Now, Mark Walsh, 10-1, 10-6
30 Potters Corner, Jack Tudor, 18-1, 10-6
31 Dounikos, Luke Dempsey, 50-1, 10-5
32 Kildisart, Nico de Boinville, 50-1, 10-5
33 Death Duty, Gavin Brouder, 50-1, 10-5
34 Ramses De Teillee, Tom Scudamore, 66-1, 10-5
35 Valtor, James Bowen, 66-1, 10-4
36 Saint Xavier, David Maxwell, 66-1, 10-4
37 Warriors Tale, Harry Cobden, 80-1, 10-4
38 Double Shuffle, Jonathan Burke, 100-1, 10-4
39 Kimberlite Candy, Richie McLernon, 16-1, 10-4
40 Walk In The Mill, James Best, 16-1, 10-4