The biggest weekend of the year for bookmakers has just passed, and the Grand National 2017, which took place at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, UK, on Saturday has gone, leaving us all waiting another year for the biggest horse race of the calendar.This year’s race was won by One for Arthur, ridden by Derek Fox, followed by Causes of Causes in second, and Saint Are and Blaklion (the favourite going in) finishing third and fourth respectively.Although it looks like One for Arthur wasn’t the only winner this weekend, with bookmakers looking to have enjoyed a huge amount of traffic.
Betting volumes
The betting volumes are also enormous when it comes to the Grand National, and this year was assumed to be no different with William Hill, who have nearly a century’s experience in the field, predicting that around £225 million would be bet on this year’s race.The race, according to William Hill, attracted over 35 million bets this year, with the average bet being $4.41.“The Grand National is the public’s race” said William Hill spokesman Rupert Adams earlier this week, attracting a host of one-off bettors to shops, sites, and apps.The new start time of 17:15, an hour earlier than previously, seems to have had a favourable effect on betting turnover.The official betting figures for the event are yet to be announced, but with the Masters Golf Tournament, the Chinese Grand Prix, and various Premier League fixtures occurring this weekend as well, it looks to have been a very profitable one for the weekend.
Late pay-out
News also came this week that William Hill had paid out on a winning bet places on Red Rum in 1974, after 74-year-old retiree Bob Holmes found the slip in the papers of his late father-in-law.