Grand National Favourites: Where is the money going on the big race?

Head of the market is the 2024 winner and last year’s runner-up I Am Maximus trained by Willie Mullins. He’ll have to defy carrying top weight, something last achieved by Red Rum in 1974. Notably, leading jockey Paul Townend decided to stay aboard the horse in favour of Grangeclere West, who is also well-fancied.

The 10-year-old was third in this race last year. Having made a hash of the last fence, he was finishing fast and has weight in hand on his stable rival.

One of the most-backed horses all week at Betfred is Panic Attack for the Skeltons.

The old-Hennessy Gold Cup winner ran well at the Cheltenham Festival last week and has seen the only mare in the race’s odds contract from 14/1 to 9/1 at the time of writing.

Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero are double-handed with leading fancies Iroko and Jagwar. Iroko finished fourth in the race last year as a seven-year-old and is 12/1, whilst Jagwar ran a good prep in the Ultima at Cheltenham and is a 10/1 shot.

The horse that finished ahead of Jagwar that day was Johnnywho trained by Jonjo O’Neill. He’s crept into the race at the bottom of the weights and has been well-backed into a 12/1 chance.

Winner of the Irish Grand National last year and the Welsh National at Christmas, Haiti Couleurs is a 16/1 chance. The Rebecca Curtis-trained 9-year-old enjoyed a spin in the Gold Cup as preparation and will have the whole of Wales backing it.

Winning Favourites

• There have been just six winning favourites of the Grand National since the turn of the century.
• Three of those came in the last six renewals:
  • 2005 - Hedgehunter - 7/1
  • 2008 - Comply Or Die - 7/1 (joint fav)
  • 2010 - Don’t Push It - 10/1 (joint fav)
  • 2019 - Tiger Roll - 4/1
  • 2023 - Corach Rambler - 8/1
  • 2024 - I Am Maximus - 7/1
• Thirteen of the last 33 favourites finished in the top three
• Twelve of the last 33 favourites did not finish the race

Find more Grand National Betting Tips here at Betfred Insights