And they’re (virtually) off!
It IS just for fun but go on, admit it, you’re just a little bit curious to see if tiger Roll can make Grand National history — even if it is only in a virtual world this afternoon. the first Saturday in April could have been one of the biggest days in racing, not just in 2020, but of all time.
No matter what might still be achieved by 2019’s wonder two-year-old Pinatubo or the mighty dual Prix de L’Arc de triomphe-winning mare Enable when the sport gets back up and running, if tiger Roll had become the first horse to win the Grand National three years running and joined the legendary Red Rum as the only three-time winners, nothing would have come close.
At ten years old, Gordon Elliott-trained tiger Roll should have at least one more shot at the Grand National in him.
With 37 outings in his career, he has not been over-raced. But a minor operation this winter is a reminder that nothing can be taken for granted.
that’s why if tiger Roll manages to win his second Virtual Grand National — he won it in 2018 and was second last year — neither Elliott nor the gelding’s owner Michael O’Leary will struggle to break into an ironic smile.
But for the rest of us, in our locked-down world, the Virtual Grand National is the best we will get, so why not embrace it for half an hour of escapist fun?
the race will be played out through remarkably realistic computer-generated images rather than half-a-ton of galloping horses scaling Aintree’s imposing fences, but the approach we must take as punters and viewers remains the same.
Each horse’s form and its preferences have been taken into account in the complex mathematical algorithms that have been used to produce a result.
there is also a measure of randomness in the system to give every one of the 40 runners a chance of winning.
So if your choice is top Ville Ben because you’ve got an Uncle Benjamin, don’t be put off by his longer odds.
the race you see played out on your screens is ultimately the outcome of a random number generator exercise. think
of a lottery scenario. Imagine 100 balls in a bucket. A lot more balls will have the name of 5-1 favourite tiger Roll on them, meaning there is more chance his name will be pulled out.
But there is still a chance, albeit a lesser one, that the one ball representing the 100-1 shot is selected. this is the Grand National, remember. It throws up the occasional shock. In 2009, Mon Mome became the longest-priced winner of the National for 42 years when he defied odds of 100-1 to win by 12 lengths.
Hopefully, around the country, families, friends and neighbours will still find a way amid their self-isolation to pull together their traditional Grand National sweepstakes using the kit in yesterday’s
Sportsmail.
You can also have a bet online with all the major bookmakers to a maximum stake of £10 or £10 each way.
Any profits made by the betting industry will be handed over to NHS Charities together, the umbrella organisation which represents more than 140 organisations.
the half-hour Virtual Grand National programme on StV not only features the running of the 2020 Grand National but also the Race of Champions.
this is a real clash of Grand National titans, pitting tiger Roll against a line-up which includes Golden Miller (1934), Jay trump (1965), Corbiere (1983), Hedgehunter (2005), Don’t Push It (2010), Many Clouds (2015) and Red Rum (1973, 1974 and 1977). that really is just for fun.
the 2020 Virtual Grand National can have a positive effect, entertaining us for a few minutes and, hopefully, raising a decent chunk of money for the NHS.
My cash will be going on Any Second Now, the ted Walsh-trained runner who won at last year’s Cheltenham Festival and has been generally running over inadequate distances so far this season.
If I don’t win, the NHS will. It’s a no-lose scenario.