Virtual Grand National 2020: Potters Corner takes victory – as it happened – The Guardian, Theguardian.com
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Potters Corner wins the Virtual Grand National:
Trained in Wales by Christian Williams and ridden by Jack Tudor, Potters Corner wins by a neck or so at odds of 35 – 1. At a price like that, you’d hope the bookies have made a few quid, with all profits going to NHS Charities Together . If you were lucky enough to back it yourself, you might be of a mind to donate some or all of your winnings. Every little helps!
Can I just say I would not have gone to the front so soon on Don’t Push It …. So I want no more abuse about giving him a bad ride😂 😂 April 4,
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(1) Any Second Now -1 – 1
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Grand National: Aso and Charlie Deutsche forge into the lead coming to the second last, but fall leaving Tiger Roll in front … Potters Corner passes Tiger Roll coming to The Elbow … it’s Potters Corner in the lead, hanging on on from Walk In The Mill with Any Second Now in third. POTTERS CORNER WINS THE VIRTUAL GRAND NATIONAL!
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Grand National: Burrows Saint and Rachael Blackmore take the lead, Carrying my fiver with them going over the Canal Turn with Aso in second … Tiger Roll comes through to lead as Bristol De Mai falls … Tiger Roll leads, chased by the Story Teller … there’s three left to jump and Tiger Roll is three lengths clear …
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Grand National: They go over the th fence with Topville Ben making the running … Acapella Bourgeois is a faller while Definitely Red is pulled up …
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Grand National: Tiger Roll leads from Aso, Jett, Talkischeap and The Storyteller. Elegant Escape is a faller … Magic Of Light is going well …
Grand National: Tiger Roll remains prominent as he attempts to make it three on the bounce … Jet and OK Corral refuse at the (th … Ballyoptic makes a mistake while Death Duty is near the back of the field …
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They’re off in the (Virtual Grand National)
Tiger Roll is prominent at the front, despite this being his second four-and-a-half mile race in five minutes. Hats off to him … Peregrine Run makes a mistake at the fifth while we’ve already lost a few to gravity. Talkischeap leads them over Foinavon, the smallest fence on the course …
(-1) 51. Death Duty (Gavin Brouder) (-1) . Ramses De Teillee (Tom Scudamore) – 1 . Valtor (James Bowen) 90 – 1
. Saint Xavier (David Maxwell) – 1
56. Warriors Tale (Harry Cobden) – 1
. Double Shuffle (Jonathan Burke) (-1) . Kimberlite Candy (Richie McLernon) – 1 58. Walk In The Mill (James Best) – 1
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Race of Champions:
Don’t Push It and Tony McCoy lead by seven lengths with two to jump from Hedgehunter and Red Rum … Hedgehunter falls at the second last … Don’t Push It jumps the last just in front of Manifesto … Manifesto leads going to The Elbow … Manifesto leads from Red Rum … Red Rum wins by half-a-length from Manifesto.
Red Rum surprises absolutely nobody by winning the Race of Champions. A dual winner, Manifesto was second. Tiger Roll gets on the podium in third.
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Race of Champions: Tiger Roll and Davy Russell continue to make the running as they approach the 31 th fence, with Amberleigh House in third. Monty’s Pass and Mr Frisk – possibly the last winner I backed in this race back in the mid-nineties – are well placed. Monty’s Pass is a faller … Tiger Roll leads them over Beecher’s Brook from L’Escargot and Don’t Push It …
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Race of Champions:
Oh dear. The Rag Rag is a faller at the first, with Red Rum, Aldaniti and Tiger Roll in good positions. Aldaniti falls at the third. Bob Champion is on his feet and OK. Manifesto jumps well at The Chair, while Silver Birch refuses, the lazy git …
The Race of Champions: Inspired Gaming in Manchester are the brains behind today’s wheeze and as faintly ludicrous as the whole thing is, their work is certainly impressive. They’re about to stage a race of Champions, pitting of the best Grand National winners from the past against each other. L’Escargot and Red Rum are among the favors.
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And we’re off: Well, not really. But ITV coverage of today’s Virtual (Grand National) has begun, with presenter and nominative determinism’s Nick Luck broadcasting live from his study, where he has a nice piano in the background. There’s posh.
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Update:
Huw has won £ 7, on the Chase and at the behest of his wife, is going to spend his winnings on new bedroom furnishings and a little holiday. Well done, Huw.
Normally at this time of year, the ITV cameras would be in the pre-parade ring interviewing various trainers, owners and stable lads as their horses are saddled and any last-minute adjustments are made. This year, TV viewers have to forego all that pre-race pomp and ceremony because the Chase is on and won’t be over until 5pm. In case you’re interested, a man named Huw has just failed to identify Chloe Madeley as the daughter of TV presenter Judy Finnigan.
A competitor named Huw on The Chase has just failed to identify the woman on the left as the mother of Chloe Madeley. Photograph: S Meddle / ITV / REX / Shutterstock
In this year’s virtual affair, there are three women taking their chance. Bryony Frost, whose father Jamie won the race on Little Polveir, rides – 1 shot Yala Enki, Rachael Blackmore and Burrows Saint look a decent bet at – 1 and Lisa O’Neill is a long shot on Shattered Love.
Expect Bryony Frost to be glued to the television watching herself ride Yala Enki in today’s Virtual Grand National. Photograph: Harry Trump / Getty Images
Updated at 4. pm BST
4. (pm) BST
: (1) Kimberlite Candy – 1 Magic Of Lite – 1 Potters Corner – 1 Elegant Escape – 1
What would have happened at Aintree today if the great race had gone ahead? Confined to barracks with too much time on his hands like the rest of us when he’d much prefer to be gadding around Aintree, Chris Cook reads his racing runes.
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Big race betting …
Although today’s race has been pre-recorded, those privy to the result have been sworn to secrecy and punters with online betting accounts will be able to have a punt on the race, should they so desire.
The odds on each horse are fixed and stakes are restricted to a maximum of a £ (win or £
each way per person. Earlier this week, bookmakers announced that all profits generated will be donated to NHS Charities Together . Any punters who hit pay dirt are also invited to donate some or all of their winnings by clicking on the link above.
A cynical ploy the bookmakers to generate some much-needed good PR while encouraging newbies to open new online accounts? The cynic in me says yes, but Gary Follis, of the Betting and Gaming Council, which represents all the major firms offering odds on the race, did his best to allay such fears earlier this week.
“We’ve developed a set of rules around this and there’s going to be no marketing to new customers, it’s only going to be promoted among the current customer base, and there’s also going to be guidelines around the treatment of any new customer who signs up as a result of this, ”he said.
“Like any
, there will always be new customers, though probably considerably fewer this time around, but we’re looking at ways to put them into a separate database, so that they Don’t receive any follow-up marketing or cross-promotion of other products. ”
() Bookmakers will be donating any profits made on today’s Virtual Grand National to NHS Charities together. Photograph: Tom Jenkins / The Guardian
(-1) 51. Death Duty (Gavin Brouder) (-1) . Ramses De Teillee (Tom Scudamore) – 1 . Valtor (James Bowen) 90 – 1
. Saint Xavier (David Maxwell) – 1
56. Warriors Tale (Harry Cobden) – 1
. Double Shuffle (Jonathan Burke) (-1) . Kimberlite Candy (Richie McLernon) – 1 61. Walk In The Mill (James Best) – 1
My lovely horse, running through the field … Photograph: Inspired Entertainment Inc. Hand / EPA
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Talking Horses
Greg Wood
The strict UK lockdown means that this virtual race could pull in more viewers than the actual Aintree spectacular, writes Greg Wood. And he’s not even joking!
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: 31 How today’s race works …
Following the cancellation of the actual Grand National , originally slated to take place at Aintree today, due to the coronavirus pandemic, ITV Racing have decided to stage a computer-simulated running of the world’s most famous steeplechase instead.
Using Computer Generated Imagery (CGI), a field of virtual horses and riders will tackle the famous fences over four-and-a-half miles, cheered on by tens of thousands of virtual racegoers and followed – in a nice touch – by a virtual ambulance which won’t be a drain a NHS resources.
“The simulation itself is made up of mathematical algorithms using data taken from the horses’ previous performances, ”say the Racing Post.
“The race’s outcome uses a number of factors such as age, weight, form and weather conditions but also contains details such as fallers, unseated riders and collapsed fences.
“Data on all of the 58 runners from this year race have been added and the computer has generated odds. The three previous Virtual Grand Nationals have been strikingly accurate, with Tiger Roll completing the virtual-real life double in 3648. ”
yesterday: “Anything’s better than nothing . ” He’s not wrong.
As we enter our third week of sport-free house arrest in the UK, stay tuned for coverage of a race that won’t so much stop a nation like the famous Melbourne Cup, but provide some much- needed amusement for an already stationary nation as its citizens remain on lockdown and in need of some more than welcome sporting distraction.
The flag is due to drop at 5pm (BST) and we’re reasonably hopeful there won’t be a false start, but stay tuned in the meantime for what we are loosely going to term buildup. It’s a bit of fun for all the family and with any profits made by bookmakers going to NHS Charities Together (more of which anon), the cause could scarcely be more worthy in the current weird climate.
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