POINT BARROW

went off joint favourite for the 2007 Grand National. It had won the 2006 Irish Grand National with Philip Carberry on board and the pair were teamed again. Trainer Pat Hughes was unhappy with the handicap but that did not deter punters and Point Barrow was backed into 8-1, with Joes Edge and Monkerhostin. He fell at the first. Jumped well, but landed awkwardly, got a bump from the horse beside him and rolled over. It happens. Not tomorrow it won’t, though. The Virtual Grand National is not going to allow Tiger Roll, the favourite, who would have been going for an unprecedented three straight wins, to suffer early calamity. The algorithm may have the capability to introduce a random factor, but there is no way bookmakers can refuse to give those staking the maximum £10 on the favourite a run for their money, even with all proceeds going to the NHS. And that is why sport truly is the best reality TV — because anything can happen. No algorithm would produce a first-fence fall for Tiger Roll, or Leicester’s title victory, maybe not even Buster Douglas’s win against Mike Tyson. It wouldn’t produce the New England Patriots taking the 2017 Super Bowl from 28-3 down in the third quarter, or Liverpool’s comeback in Istanbul. Sport’s random factor is greater than the imagination of any AI, because it would not be fair to run tomorrow’s race with extreme possibilities. Tiger Roll may not win, Tiger Roll may even fall, but not at the first. Stuff like that only happens in real sport, which is why it is beautiful and we miss it so.