Trends suggest backing 10-year-old to win Grand National
Published:Punters wanting to boost their chances of landing a winning Grand National bet have been offered the perfect chance to do so by Ladbrokes through identifying the age of the triumphant horse at Aintree.
Picking the winner from a field of 40 runners is no mean feat and so effectively being able to cheer on a handful of entrants would obviously give punters a greater chance of backing an Aintree winner.
And based on the last decade, it is in the 10-year-old camp where the smarter money will be going.
An 11-year-old, 10-year-old and nine-year-old winner are all priced individually at 9/4, but it is the middle of this age range that have been successful in half of the last 10 years and in four of the last seven.
The 10-year-old team is a strong one this year too, including 8/1 Grand National joint favourite Prince De Beauchene, last year’s second and third Sunnyhillboy and Seabass, along with Chicago Grey.
Eight of the last 10 winners have been either nine or 10 and this is the other age group which deserves attention.
In fact, it is this age group which may include more possible winners, such as the other joint favourite On His Own, Teaforthree, Colbert Station, Wyck Hill and the potentially well-treated The Rainbow Hunter.
The worst bet of the 9/4 options clearly seems the 11-year-olds, who are almost solely reliant on a big run from Cappa Bleu.
There has not been an eight-year-old Grand National winner since Bindaree in 2002 and it is 9/2 that this particular barren spell is ended.
Only six eight-year-olds currently remain in the entry list and three of these require at least 10 withdrawals to be confirmed in the final 40.
However, Join Together is in this age group as he bids to give Paul Nicholls his second consecutive Grand National victory after the win of Neptune Collonges in 2012.
All Odds and Markets are correct as of the date of publishing.
