Grand National 2025

 

The 2025 renewal of the Grand National, run on April 5, 2025, on good to soft going, was the second since the maximum field size was reduced to 34 from 40 runners for safety reasons. The result of the race was overshadowed by the collapse on the run-in, shortly after the final fence, of the 13-year-old Celebre d'Allen, the oldest horse in the race. Having appeared to be recovering the following day, he suddenly deteriorated and died on the Monday evening, with a post-mortem examination revealing a severe respiratory infection, known as pleuropneumonia, which not been present in the blood sample taken on the day of the race.

That tragic course of events aside, the reduction in the maximum field size did little to reduce the spectacle of the Grand National. The well-fancied trio of Perceval Legallois, Stumptown and Intense Raffles all failed to complete the course, but 16 horses did and a dozen or so of them were still firmly in contention on the turn for home. The eventual winner, Nick Rockett, trained by Willie Mullins and ridden by his son, Patrick, led narrowly over the second-last fence, but was soon challenged, on either side, by stable companions I Am Maximus, Moonella Cocooner and Grangeclare West. A mistake at the final fence effectively put paid to the chance of the latter, while Moonella Cocooner weakened inside the final furlong, leaving Nick Rockett and I Am Maximus to fight out the finish. Both has been popular with punters before the race, and those taking advantage of free bet offers on FreeBetsUK and the like.

The 2024 winner, and second-favourite, I Am Maximus, who was 8lb higher in the weights than when victorious, continued to press the winner all the way to the line, but could find no extra in the closing stages and was eventually beaten 2½ lengths. Grangeclare West finished an honourable third, a further head away, thereby giving Willie Mullins 1-2-3 in the race. Indeed, favourite Iroko, trained by Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerrerio, stayed on to finish fourth, just ahead of another Mullins-trained runner, Meetingofthewaters. Nevertheless, still managed to saddle five of the first seven home, with Appreciate It – who was brought down at the fence before Becher's Brook on the second circuit – the only one of his six entries who failed to be involved in the buisness end of his race.

How many horses have won the King George VI Chase three times or more?

Established in February, 1937, the King George VI Chase was named, plainly, in honour of King George VI, who was proclaimed king the previous December, following the abdication of his brother, Edward VIII, and crowned the following May. Run over a practically flat three miles at Kempton Park, traditionally on Boxing Day, the race is now the second most prestigious conditions steeplechase in the British National Hunt calendar, behind only the Cheltenham Gold Cup.

The King George VI Chase has a habit of throwing up multiple winners, with Cheltenham Gold Cup winners Captain Christy, Silver Buck, The Fellow and See More Business just some of the top-class steeplechasers with two victories to their names down the years. Not altogether surprising, winning the race three times, or more, has proved more of an 'ask', even for the best in the business. So far, just three horses have managed to do so.

The first of them was Wayward Lad, trained, like the aforementioned Silver Buck, by Michael Dickinson and arguably the best chaser never to have won the Cheltenham Gold Cup. He did, however, win the festive showpiece two years running, in 1982 and 1983, and after a distant, distressed third in 1984, returned to complete his hat-trick in 1985. Next up was the popular grey Desert Orchid, who won four of the five renewals between 1986 and 1990 and finished second to Nupsala in 1987. Last, but by no means least, came the record-breaking Kauto Star, the fourth highest-rated chaser in the history of Timeform, who contested the King George VI Chase six times and was victorious five times between 2006 and 2011. Following his fifth and final win, jockey Ruby Walsh paraded the 11-year-old in front of the stands, to rapturous applause, before weighing in.

Gary Neville Profile

Though the modern full-back is an attacking dynamo, often a converted winger, Manchester United legend Gary Neville was different. Though he could spring forward and lead attacks, Neville was often a supporting figure, offering long-term teammate David Beckham a reliable presence behind him as he funnelled forward.

In exactly 400 league games for United, and many more in Europe and in cups, as well as 85 caps for England, Neville secured his reputation as one of the steadiest, most consistent full-backs in the world and, for a time, was rated as among the best anywhere in the planet.

What made Gary Neville so special?

An engine that never ran out mixed with a massive consistency and fearlessness in the tackle, Neville was a major part of the United teams of the 1990s who were so successful. Through his career, Neville always showed excellent positional sense and always looked more than capable of competing with any player. His lack of pace (relatively) paired with mediocre crossing was never a holdback, though, as United found ways to utilise his excellent defensive covering and tactical brain to their advantage.

As one of the ‘Class of 92’, Neville became a symbol of the rebirth of United under Sir Alex Ferguson, and was a key face of the Ferguson era until his retirement in 2011.

What does Gary Neville do now?

A business owner and owner of a football club, Salford City, Neville also spends much of his time on TV as a pundit for Sky Sports. He endured a swift spell in management, taking over at Valencia C.F. in Spain before lasting only half a season.

Neville, though, has become a frequent voice on everything from matters of social change in football to topics involving ownership, governance, and finance within the game, becoming a leading voice within English football on various topics.

Becoming A Professional Gambler

After reading several professional gambler books these last few months, it seems the world and his wife (or husband) want to be a professional gambler. It is an ambition held by many punters who see it as an easy route to wealth. Let’s face it, who wants the daily grind of the 9 – 5 when you can watch racing at the sports bar, drinking endless pints and finish a good afternoon’s work with a meal for one.

So much for the James Bond life-style. I wonderif 007 ever treated himself to a curry after a bit of espionage?

Have you got what it takes to be a professional gambler?

What does it take? Can you simply transition from your everyday punter to someone who makes a living based on their skill to outwit the layers? In truth, this must be the route for many a professional gambler.

If only you could see the competition. Appreciate the level of skill needed to set yourself apart. It may well be such a daunting prospect that you simply give up trying before you dig yourself in a hole. We are all mere mortals. Within reason homo sapien is pretty much the same when you take your average bystander hoping, praying or confident they are somehow that little bit better.

I remember watching a bloke who specialise in buying and selling antiques. He had a niche. He said: ‘It’s not about being the best, just a little better than most!’

That’s a fair measure of ability.

From what I have seen, most horse racing punters are lazy beasts. More ploddish than some old gelding ambling around Exeter on a cold, winter’s morning. It’s not going to happen if you lack the passion to win. You need an inquisitive mind. You have to be confident in yourself that you have what it takes.

A stronger mind than most.

When I see a punter saying they bet on this, that and the other, the alarm bells starts ringing. You want to be something akin to the compendium of games. There’s a problem with that thought. If you haven’t worked it out, then that’s another red flag which you wave over your naive head.

Where are you going to find all that time to be the master of everything?

The clock on my wall has 24-hours. I sleep 8 hours. I’m wasting time like its going out of fashion distracted by YouTube and social media. I used to really love Jeremy Kyle. That’s not a quote from me, it’s one from Dave Nevison when he decided to work from home rather than work like a professional gambler and get on course. He loved a bit of Trisha too. However, he didn’t like his horse racing results too much.

How long can you focus without tiring?

What happens when you have a losing run?

How do you cope with the pressure of the daily grind?

Unless you have a niche you may as well give up now.

To be a professional gambler you need to be able to replicate how you work in both assessment and process. Why is this important you may ask? Because you need to be able to measure how you work on every level and be able to make small adjustments to hone your skills. This is no easy endeavour. Most punters are so haphazard in their thinking and working that they will never understand this key point. In fact, they will be so far from this level they won’t even understand the whole premise.

Unless you wholly understand what you are doing someone else will and they will be taking your money with a smile on their face. They will be enjoying their life with the price of your misery. They will glory in your failure. There only disappointment will be the day you run out of money.

It all sounds very harsh.

‘This isn’t the world I want to be living!’

Beef up.

That’s what I say.

Because if you don’t fight every aspect of disappointment with an equal measure of motivation to learn more you are doomed.

I don’t say these things to put you off just to brace yourself for the hurricane if you think you will be sitting on a deck chair on the beach. If you are skilful enough you may well be doing that. But if you are a newbie to the gambling ranks you will need to be the exception to the rule.

The reality of being a professional gambler is harsh.

It is built on a foundation of hard work, concrete mind and emotions.

As the quote goes: ‘You don’t know what you don’t know.’

That’s what I’m fearing for you.

Richard Wilk: Whale Hunter

I first learned about Richard Wilk watching Louis Theroux’s Gambling In Las Vegas, broadcast back in 2007 on BBC 2. This 60-minute episode followed a run of very successful documentaries from Theroux. Often hard-hitting subjects. He has the knack of getting the best answers from even those who keep their cards close to their chest. This was the case with Rich Wilk who worked at the Las Vegas Hilton. His job to find high-rolling gamblers known as whale who bet large sums of money.

Wilk finds whales (friends, acquaintances and others probably through marketing) to bring big money gamblers to lose even bigger at the casino.

Here we meet his friend Allan Erlick known as ‘The Mattress King’ because he owns one of the largest mattress manufacturing businesses in Canada. Such is their connection that Allan is godfather to Wilk’s daughter. It’s an odd relationship where friendship comes first and business second although watching the programme you have to think it’s actually the reverse. It’s not all bad news for ‘The Mattress King’ as he gets the biggest penthouse suite in the hotel for three days and nights as a complimentary gesture. It comes with its own butler. Allan jokes that the only downside is walking the vast distance from the bedroom to have breakfast each morning. In addition, Wilk’s secures $3K in free bets although this only comes when Allan has lost $50K, after a good start on day one on the roulette, (we didn’t see the losses) and then a disaster of a session on the slots which saw him lose about $70K. He smiles at Louis when he wins $5K on the slots as if saying: ‘See, you can win big money.’ While Theroux stares back bemused as if saying: ‘Yes, but you’ve lost over $100K.’

In fact, every time Theroux uses the elevator he ask guests ‘Are you winning?’ I think one bloke said he was but all the others seemed to be losing tens of thousands if not more. It was, unsurprisingly, a catalogue of losses.

Theroux said: ‘Las Vegas wasn’t built on winners!’

Rich Wilk talked about the business of being a broker for the casino a position which clearly paid well. You’d have to imagine he was collecting 10% of any losses if not substantially more. What’s worse for the punters (unlike betting in the UK) they have to pay tax on their winnings. Allan said about his $5K win, that it was worth $3.5K after taxes. With the house cut it must be impossible to win gambling in Las Vegas. Especially too, when the roulette is double zero compare to the United Kingdom.

Wilk’s said he has one or two whales commit suicide. It would seem most of the big players were addicted to gambling. If not, like another patron Martha Ogman, who had lost $4M on the slots, she just ‘loved playing so much why would I stop?’

Gambling In Las Vegas is a fascinating venture into the realities of gambling often to excess. ‘No one wants to see a gambler lose their house’, one of the floors managers says. You kind of get the feeling they wouldn’t be bothered either way.

As Allan leaves the Hilton a limousine awaits. He looks a little subdued saying bye to Louis and his friend Rich. After three days and heavy losses, it’s time to go back to Canada minus at least $160,000.

Gambling In Las Vegas is one place you really don’t want to bet.