Grand National winner leaves bookies with huge headache

Apr 6 2008

Bookmakers faced a multi-million pound payout last night after Comply or Die romped to victory in the 161st Grand National following a last-minute surge in betting on the horse.

Bookmaker Coral hailed the result as a “national victory” for punters and said it faces one of its biggest payouts ever on the world’s greatest steeplechase.

In total, a record £400 million is believed to have been taken in bets on the big race at Aintree, bookmakers said.

One firm said the winner took a massive 10% of all it’s bets today.

The late surge in betting saw Comply or Die’s odds tumble from 10-1 to 7-1, making it joint favourite with hotly-tipped Cloudy Lane.

Back in February odds were available as high as 50-1.

William Hill spokesman David Hood said the winner was the “best backed” horse in the race, taking around 10% of its bets today. The bookmaker alone is facing a £40 million payout.

“Punters will be queueing in every high street in the country to collect their winnings,” he said.

Coral spokesman Simon Clare said: “Comply or Die is only the fifth favourite to win the race in the last 30 years, and coincidentally all have started at 7-1.

“We may have dodged disaster with the defeat of Cloudy Lane but this has still been a national victory for punters.”

The firm is already quoting odds of 14-1 for Comply or Die to win next year’s race.

The horse, trained by David Pipe and owned by David Johnson, was ridden by Timmy Murphy.

Murphy said after the race: “I can’t really believe it yet. He’s got into a lovely rhythm. Jumping the last he came through and he picked up again when Paul Carberry (King Johns Castle) came to me.

“I was just worried at the elbow because I’ve seen them curl up there.

“I’m delighted for my boss David Johnson because it is a race he has always wanted to win.”

McKelvey, which came second at last year’s Grand National, was the only fatality at this year’s event.

The horse, which was owned by Noel Elliott and ridden by Tom O’Brien, threw its rider and then ran round the course until he collided with a barrier.

The horse had been injured for eight months and reappeared at Doncaster last month before racing today.

A spokesman for the RSPCA said McKelvey could not get up and was destroyed on the track.

David Muir, the RSPCA’s equine consultant who consults with Aintree about track safety and the difficulty of jumps, said there was room for improvement at the famous Liverpool course.

He said: “Any death is very regrettable and we can’t defend them, but as an animal welfare organisation our duty is to work with the organisers to improve things.

“By saying you shouldn’t do something doesn’t improve results.

“If you look at the National in the last eight years and compare it to the eight years before there has been a massive reduction in fatalities and injuries.

“The fences nowadays are much more forgiving than they used to be, but we can make them more so and not reduce the quality of the race.”

Merseyside Police praised the enormous crowd for their good behaviour.

Chief Superintendent Mark Matthews said there were just four arrests for drunkenness and pick-pocketing today.

He said: “This year has been particularly successful because the crowds have been bigger; it was a sell out today.

“People have been in good spirits and officers are well briefed and are familiar with the event and have worked on it before.

“We have a firm but friendly approach.”

McKelvey was injured in last year’s race and faced an eight-month recovery before today’s race.

His recovery had featured on the BBC’s One Show, according to the charity Animal Aid.

The organisation today labelled the race “perverse”.

Director Andrew Tyler added: “For anyone who has a genuine concern for horse welfare, the Grand National is a nightmare to watch.

“Exhausted horses were crashing to the ground throughout this appallingly hazardous race.

“It is not a sporting event but a sick spectacle that plays fast and loose with the lives of horses.

“The BBC routinely plays down the death and suffering of thoroughbreds. It has spent months promoting the supposedly heroic journey of McKelvey. Now he is dead - and predictably so.

“Let the BBC cover that not as a tragic accident but as a cynical sacrifice with which it is complicit.”

McKelvey was the third horse killed at this years three-day Grand National meeting.

Animal Aid says thirty-eight horses have died at the Grand National meeting since 1997, eleven of them in the big race itself.

Yesterday's Tote on-course cash turnover broke the #2 million mark for the first time.

Tote took £2,061,385, up 14% on last year’s £1,804,235.

Tote spokesman Damian Walker said: “It is a record figure for Aintree and the first time we have ever gone through the £2 million barrier at the course. We are delighted.”

The Racecourse confirmed today’s crowd of 68,360 was not the record-breaker which had been anticipated.

Julian Thick, managing director of the course, said: “We are absolutely delighted with the turn-out today, particularly given the adverse weather forecasts.”

Famous faces attending today included Liberal Democrat MP Lembit Opik and his Cheeky Girl partner Gabriela Irimia, West End star Jennifer Ellison and Wag Coleen McLoughlin, who judged the annual Grand National style competition.

McLoughlin, 22, the star of Coleen’s Real Women and fiancee of England’s Wayne Rooney, wore a pastel Balenciaga “Grecian-style” dress with black Christian Louboutin shoes.

Winner of the competition was university student Anna Perez, 20, from Liverpool.

Ms Perez was wearing a floral chiffon vintage dress which she bought for £70 from a friend’s store.

“It is freezing today but sometimes a girl has got to suffer to be stylish,” said McLoughlin.

The winner of the People’s Race was Newmarket accountant Clare Twemlow, 29, on Zabeel Palace.

The six-year-old horse, which won by two and three-quarter lengths, is owned by Barney Curley, also from Newmarket.

Owner and jockey will donate the £55,000 winnings to the charity Direct Aid for Africa.

Ms Twemlow said: “Everything went so well and, gosh, that was such a buzz. I absolutely enjoyed every second of that.