Grand National - Luck of the Irish

With five Irish winners in the last eight renewals of the great race, it's no wonder that horses trained in Ireland dominate ante-post markets - the first five in the betting no less!

Top of the list at most of the online bookmakers we feature is Dun Doire at 10/1, closely followed by last year's winner, Numbersixvalverde, at an impressive 12/1.

Hedgehunter, Point Barrow and Far From Trouble (an uncertain runner at this stage) are all priced at 14/1 to give runners from the Emerald Isle a strong hand in this year's race, but recent market moves at the best bookmakers suggest that the Irish won't have it all their own way.

Irish Horses Heavily Backed

Two horses that have attracted interesting support in the past couple of weeks are Longshanks and Bewleys Berry, and they are now trading at 20/1 and 25/1 respectively with William Hill.

The former has an excellent record over the National fences having finished second and fourth in the Topham Chase, whilst the latter ran an eye-catching race behind Eurotrek in the Becher Chase in November, and George Primarolo is particularly sweet on his chances;

"I would strongly fancy him to turn the tables on that horse in the big race."

Of course, picking the Grand National winner is never that easy so, to give you a helping hand, bookmakers tend to offer new signups a free bet when you join. Simply open an account before the big race to be eligible to claim each bookmakers offer.

Grand National

Don't forget, as well as taking advantage of all the Grand National free bets that bookmakers offer new signups, why not run a Grand National sweepstake at your place of work or down your local pub. Simply download a Grand National sweepstake kit to get everyone involved.