Could 2016’s Grand National be the biggest yet?

Posted on | January 20, 2016 | No Comments

With less than three months until the Grand National, many of the nation’s bookmakers, trainers and racing fans will be looking forward to this top racing event with an added level of excitement.

This is because there have been a number of innovations for the 2016 Grand National that look odds-on to make this the biggest racing extravaganza that the UK has ever seen.

Television exposure

One of the biggest changes to the Grand National in 2016 looks to be the way that the start time of the race has been delayed by one hour to begin at 5.15pm. This move has been made in an bid to maximise the viewing audiences so that the racing event can attempt to achieve the ten million audience viewing figures that were achieved when the race was held during the glory years of the BBC.

However, since Channel 4 have made moves to become the leading horse-racing broadcaster, it has had to compete against the BBC’s football-related content and this move has been welcomed by racing fans with many bookmakers offering odds on how many will tune in to watch this epic racing event.

Female developments

In recent years there have been more than a few tabloid newspapers that have sought to portray the Ladies’ Day events in somewhat unflattering terms. However, this year looks to further the progress of women jockeys as there have been many recent notable occurrences of female success in this traditionally male sporting domain.

One of the most triumphant female performances was by Katie Walsh who came third in the 2012 Grand National on Seabass, and fans can follow the fate of the current female jockeys in the latest Grand National odds that are being updated daily on the Coral website that offers a tempting range of betting options on this fascinating event.

The ultimate racing event

However, despite all of these developments, it’s the sheer scale of the Grand National that makes this racing’s best-loved event. Already tickets for the event are selling at a much faster rate than last year, and it’s expected that even more than 152,000 spectators will attend the Aintree racecourse in during the three days of intense racing, beating last year’s record.

And with the prize money once again topping well over £1 million, it’s expected that the 2016 Grand National will be odds-on for being the best yet!

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