Grand National Odds 2020
The Cheltenham Festival, the Grand National is the crown jewel of horse racing events, attracting jockeys and trainers from across the globe.
Not only will you find competitors descending onto the Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, but you will also find that over 150,000 spectators attend this prestigious event, along with more than 600 million watching on a nearby television.
Excitement at Aintree
The number of spectators that either watch it on television or next to the track makes this three-day extravaganza the most watched horse racing event in the United Kingdom. Furthermore, it also attracts a plethora of horse wagering opportunities for bettors around the world.
The Grand National takes place during April, following the Cheltenham Festival, which usually occurs in March. The horse racing event is hosted by the Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool every year, and comes equipped with 21 different racing events featuring horses from across the globe. The Grand National race itself is considered the most highly anticipated race during the glorious event.
The race features a 4½-mile course with added difficulty due to the fact that 30 fences are included on the track which each horse needs to jump over. The winner of the Grand National race not only requires speed, but also needs a great deal of agility and stamina to make it to the finish line in first place.
Participants in the Grand National are required to complete two laps around the course. The first lap consists of 16 fences, while the second lap comes with two less, at 14.
2020 Grand National odds
The Grand National Festival features 21 different horse racing events, stretching across three wonderful days. The horse racing action usually starts on the first Thursday in April and comes to an end on the following Saturday. The first day of the Grand National Festival is commonly referred to as “A Day for Champions,” which is headlined by the popular Aintree Hurdle. The Aintree Hurdle offers a purse of £200,000, as Grade 1 horses compete at a distance of 2 miles.
The second day of the Grand National Festival is known as “Ladies Day” and, as you can imagine, the fashion statements heat up quite considerably from here on out. The headline race for the second day of the festival is the Melling Steeple, awarding a purse of £200,000. The lowest paying race on the second day of the festival is the Champion Standard Open, with a purse of £45,000, just to give you an idea of the action that takes place during the event.
The final day of the Grand National festival is known as Grand National Race Day and in 2019 it impressed everyone with a £1 million purse. The most recent winner of the Grand National Race, Tiger Roll, managed to win the race for the second consecutive year and took home a whopping £561,000. With that in mind, let’s take a look at the odds for the 2020 Grand National Festival.
2020 Grand National post positions
The post positions for the 2020 Grand National Festival is yet to be released. Once the information is available, we will update this section accordingly.
How to read the 2020 Grand National odds
With ever-changing and complicated win rates, along with an array of different betting types, it can be rather daunting to read the 2020 Grand National odds, particularly if you haven’t read through a guide to help you understand how these odds actually work. For instance, how do you determine which horse to bet on, and how can you calculate the potential profit from your wager?
Thankfully, we included a simple guide to help you read and understand the 2020 Grand National odds.
Pari-Mutuel betting
In states in America that allow wagers on horse racing events, most use the pari-mutuel betting system. This is also referred to as pool betting and is often used in short sporting events, including greyhound and horse racing where the competitors complete the race in a ranked order. All the wagered money on a particular race is added to a pool where the house will take a percentage of the overall amount. The remaining funds are then divided between the bettors who made a winning wager.
With a pari-mutuel betting system, you’ll rarely know how much money you stand to make if you place a winning bet, as the odds change every time a new bettor makes a wager. This is completely different to fixed-odds betting, such as point spread and moneyline, where the payout has already been determined at the time of your wager. Let’s take a closer look at how pari-mutuel betting works:
All wagers on the 2020 Grand National race is placed in a pool. Thereafter, the house that covers the profits, expenses, and taxes will deduct their share from the pool. This is known as the takeout and it often amounts to 15% to 22% of the pool. This greatly depends on the type of bet and the track. Payouts are calculated by sharing the rest of the pool with the bettors that placed a wager on the winning horse.
For instance, in a five-horse race, you will see the following amounts were wagered on each horse:
- Horse A – $200
- Horse B – $450
- Horse C – $500
- Horse D – $350
- Horse E – $400
This will give you a prize pool total of $1,900. The house will take a share which amounts to 15% of the overall pool—or $285—leaving you with $1,615. Let’s say Horse C managed to win the race. This means that the remaining pool, worth $1,615, will be divided between the bettors who made a wager on the winning horse. It’s worth mentioning that the original bets of $500 will be returned to them, leaving them with a total payout amount of $1,115 to be divided between the winners.
If the pari-mutuel system is not used by online sports betting sites, you can bet your bottom dollar that either fractional or decimal odds are used to provide the prices for each of the participating horses.
Fractional odds
Fractional odds are always displayed in a 4/1 format. These odds use simple math. To help you grasp fractional odds, let’s say that each number is essentially a unit.
- 5/1 – For every 1 unit you bet, you will collect 5 units if your wager is correct (plus your initial wager)
- 7/4 – For every 4 units your bet, you will collect 7 units if your wager is correct (plus your initial wager)
- 8/2 – For every 2 units you bet, you will collect 8 units if your wager is correct (plus your initial wager)
Should you find that the fractional odds are displayed the other way around, such as 1/5, it means that the horse in question is a favorite to win the horse racing event.
- 1/5 – For every 5 units you bet, you will collect 1 unit if your bet is correct (plus your initial wager)
- 1/2 – For every 2 units you bet, you will collect 1 unit if your bet is correct (plus your initial wager)
You will also come across EVS or Evens at most of the online sports betting sites when it comes to horse racing. This is basically a 1/1 fraction equivalent. Once again, this means that the horse is a favorite to win the race.
Decimal Odds
Decimal odds will always be portrayed in a 5.00 format. To make decimal odds much easier, simply multiply the number you see next to the horse by your bet size to calculate the potential return if you make a winning wager. Unlike fractional odds, you will notice that your initial wager is already included in the price. So, decimal odds of 5.00 is basically 4/1 in fractional odds along with your initial wager included.
How are odds calculated for the 2020 Grand National?
The odds that are displayed next to each horse for the 21 races within the 2020 Grand National Festival are carefully calculated by taking into the horse’s previous victories, the overall performance of the horse, and the competition that the horse will go up against. Horse race betting sites also evaluate the jockey and the trainer of the horse before any odds are posted to bettors.
Once the odds are displayed, you can easily calculate your potential returns and your chances of winning now that you understand decimal and fractional odds. If you are still unsure, you can always use a betting calculator that comes equipped with most online sports betting sites. These calculators will give you your profit margin and will offer the flexibility to choose between decimal and fractional odds. Simply enter your wager amount in the calculator to see how much you can potentially win from the horse you wish to bet on.
Grand National and Futures betting
Even though the Grand National Festival only takes place during the month of April, you will notice that loads of online sports betting sites will give you the opportunity to place future bets long before the event is on the horizon. This is known as future betting and it’s extremely popular among casual and professional bettors. That’s because it usually comes with extremely generous odds that will provide a bigger payout if you make the correct prediction.
The only advice we can give you when it comes to future betting on the 2020 Grand National is to shop around for the best price before placing your bet.
Highest odds to ever win the Grand National
When you take a look back at the history of the Grand National Festival, you’ll be surprised to learn that a total of 5 different horses have managed to win the Grand National race at odds of 100/1.
Some of these long shots come with fascinating stories and will go down in history due to their phenomenal performances and how they managed to shock the world.
- 1928 – Tipperary Tim – 100/1
- 1929 – Gregalach – 100/1
- 1947 – Caughoo – 100/1
- 1967 – Foinavon – 100/1
- 2009 – Mon Mome – 100/1