Bookmakers fear one horse at this year’s Grand National

Punters have been betting heavily on this year’s Grand National favourite Cloth Cap, which could become the shortest-priced National favourite ever.

UK.- Bookmakers in the UK fear big losses if the favourite Cloth Cap wins the UK’s most popular horse race, the Randox Grand National on Saturday.

Punters have been piling on bets for the horse to win after jockey Tom Scudamore claimed victory at the Ladbrokes Trophy at Newbury in November and at Kelso last month.

The horse is already 7/2 but it’s predicted that odds could fall as low as 2/1 by the weekend, making the horse the shortest-priced National favourite ever.

To date, the shortest-priced favourite to win the race was Poethlyn at 11/4 in 1919. In 2019, bookies suffered a £250m blow after Tiger Roll became the fourth shortest-price winner at 4/1.

William Hill racing expert, Rupert Adams, said: “I cannot think of a bigger buzz for a horse. Therefore we need to get it beaten.

“As it stands, we think that if Cloth Cap wins the Grand National it will be the shortest-priced winner in the history of this extraordinary race.”

Paddy Power’s Paul Binfield said: “This is the people’s race and Cloth Cap has a name conjuring images of a Lowry portrait. He’s carrying a lot less weight than his ability has indicated and he’s bound to be extremely popular.”

Grand National 2021

Bookies in the UK had hoped that the Grand National would be postponed until after retail bookmakers are allowed to reopen from April 17, however the race is to go ahead on the date originally scheduled.

Britain’s favourite horse race meet will take place this Saturday at Aintree racecourse near Liverpool. The runners will go to post at 5.15pm UK time.

Watched each year by more than 500 million people around the world, the Grand National is a race like no other. It sees 40 competitors take on Aintree’s unique fences over the course of four and a half miles.

This year, the race will be held behind closed doors due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Last year, it was cancelled altogether and replaced by a virtual simulation screened on ITV.

See also: British racing groups slam “disastrous” affordability proposals