Published on 12th April 2016 by Becky Mosley

There is no horse race in the world in the world quite like the Grand National. Drawing in over 10 million viewers, this year’s incarnation of the event proved to be no exception. When all was said and done at Aintree this time around, it was Rule The World who claimed the plaudits. Pulling away from favourite The Last Samurai during the final stretch, the outsider stunned the punters, giving online bookies plenty of reason to celebrate.

‘Dream Result’

The news of an outsider romping home to victory was certainly welcomed by UK online bookmakers, as it will work to erase the nightmare of Cheltenham. In a Bet365 statement The Last Samurai win was lauded as a “dream result”. David Williams (Ladbrokes Director of Media) said, “A 33/1 winner gave us the kind of script we didn’t dare hope for. Punters had a tough day. After the pain of the Cheltenham Festival we’ve had much the better of it at Aintree. We’re leaving Merseyside feeling pretty pleased with how it’s panned out. The heavens opened but God looked down favourably on the bookies”.

BetVictor Lose Out

For most online bookmakers, the Grand National proved to be a successful event, but spare a thought for BetVictor who weren’t quite as fortunate. This is because for the sixth year running they paid out to six places and for the second year running they paid the price, BetVictor spokesperson Charlie McCann commented, “For the sixth successive year we offered six places on the National and the additional places hurt us. Once again we lost on the race. That said we took an unprecedented number of bets from customers old and new and we are thrilled with our day despite losing on the great race!”.In what was a truly great weekend of sport, capped off by the Grand National, it seems that British bookmakers have been left with plenty to shout about.