Guernsey goes National crazy

WHY is the Grand National the only event in the year which housewives have a bet on? The race conjures up images of old women in hair rollers heading to the betting shops in their droves.

It is estimated that more than £70m. is bet on the National every year and that up to a third of the adult population will have a flutter.

The vast majority will not place another bet all year.

Guernsey Race Club chairman Ruth Bougourd tried to offer a

theory as to why the National is so special.

'It's a unique race,' said Bougourd.

'It's the biggest steeplechase there is. There is nothing else like it.'

It is without doubt the busiest day of the year for the bookmakers on the island.

One estimated that it took more than 1,100 betting slips over the counter for last year's race. Each slip could contain up to six different horses on it.

'It's the single biggest day of the year for us,' said one local bookmaker.

'Our shop gets mobbed as people come out for the one day of the year.'

This sounds like good news for everyone. The punter could get a winner and the bookmaker must be making money from the number of bets placed.

Or so you would think.

'One of the worst things you can do is have a flutter on it,' said Bougourd. 'It is a lottery as to who will win. Form goes out of the window.'

The race sees 40 horses compete over a four-and-a-half mile course with jumps up to six feet high. Not surprisingly, most years under half of the field actually get to cross the finishing line.

It's harder to pick a winner than pick a broken nose.

It seems that it is in the lap of the gods as to whether a horse actually finishes the race, let alone win it.

You have to feel sorry for the poor bookmakers as punters don't follow form guides and bets are spread out over the field. It is nigh-on impossible for them to organise their book so that they finish in profit at the end of the day.

'It's a nightmare for us,' said another bookmaker.

'In the last six years, we have made a profit only once on Grand National day.

'Everybody backs everything so if the top six or eight favourites fill the first four places in the race, we're going to have a bad day.'

Punters seem to get sentimental when picking horses and this is when the form guide is firmly thrown out of the window.

The usual scenario sees our housewife in her rollers looking down the list of runners and picking a name that has sentimental value.

The top three horses in the sentimental stakes this year are Amberleigh House, Forest Gunner and Clan Royal and they are among the favourites to win.

Last year's winner, Amberleigh House, is trained by Ginger McCain, the trainer of the much-loved Red Rum, which won the National three times in the seventies. Can Amberleigh House follow in his hoof steps?

Forest Gunner is also getting a lot of support as the jockey is Carrie Ford, the only female in the field. Just 12 women have competed in the race, with the last one taking part in 1994.

The number one sentimental bet this year is Clan Royal, thanks to Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles' marriage that has been re-arranged to the same day as the National. It is one of the most backed horses.

But according to one professional tipster from Cheltenham, Clan Royal is being backed not just because for sentimental reasons.

'I live quite close to the trainer, Jonjo O'Neill, in the Cotswolds,' said 'Big Dave'.

'I've heard from some people who work there that the horse is attracting a lot of money.

'These are serious racing people and they have no interest in weddings.'