Grand National cancelled and UK racing suspended til late April

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Aintree Grand National racing news

was a best-priced +800 to win the 2020 , but bookmakers have taken down their odds because the race has been cancelled. All racing in Britain has been suspended until the end of April.

Some bookies have taken the bull by the horns by pricing up the 2021 National, for which the winner in the last two years can be backed at +2500 with Bovada. If the National is not rearranged for later in the year, Tiger Roll will not be able to win three times in three years but can still prevail in three successive renewals.

The cancellation of the Aintree Grand National meeting was inevitable once the British government announced that mass gatherings would not get support from emergency service workers. The outbreak in the UK has worsened in line with development around the world and individuals have been advised to ‘avoid non-essential travel and social contact'. That directive rules out a sporting event that attracts about 150,000 people over three days.

If the Cheltenham Festival was scheduled for this week it would have been lost at huge expense to the bookmaking and racing industries. However, the Grand National is by far the biggest betting race of the season and a shop window for bookmakers. Staging the race behind closed doors was not feasible as the required safety and support staff are needed elsewhere.

There has been something of a backlash in Ireland against those who returned from to a country where racing is already taking place behind closed doors. Non-racing columnists have written some articles that are highly critical of Irish residents who are accused of putting a festival ahead of the health and wellbeing of the general population. The 2020 Festival, which is the Irish equivalent of Cheltenham, must be 1,000,000/1 to happen.

If that meeting is cancelled, Irish racegoers will be denied the privilege of seeing some returning heroes from Cheltenham. Al Boum Photo could have run at Punchestown on the back of winning a second Gold Cup. The horse is now +600 with online bookmakers to emulate Best Mate (2002, 2003 and 2004) by winning three Gold Cups. won the RSA in fashion and will have supporters at +1400 to win the 2021 Cheltenham Gold Cup.

When the news broke about the National being cancelled there was very little supporting information. The senior steward of the Club was quoted in the Racing Post as follows: “The Randox Health Grand National was just three weeks away and it is very clear to us it will not be possible for the event to take place. We were working on a plan to stage the Grand National behind closed doors but this is not a viable option.”

Bookmakers now face an unprecedented problem related to ante-post bets. The Betfair betting has suspended trading on this year's National but has published a market for the race next year. Some punters who backed Definitly Red at +3300 with regular bookmakers will now not have the facility to cash out or lay the horse at half those odds with an exchange bookmaker. It is likely that all bets will be declared void and stakes returned. Whatever route the bookies take, they won't be able to please all the people and there will be winners and losers.

Jurgen Klopp's observation that football is the most important thing of not very important things applies to the Grand National and horse racing. The race is huge for the betting industry, but it will return either later this year or in April 2021. Tiger Roll will be a year older, but he could still have the chance to embark on sporting immortality by winning three Grand Nationals in a row.

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