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The Grand National can boast of a number of great jockeys who have performed extraordinary feats in its history. Since the Grand National started in 1839, many riders have immortalized their names through extraordinary performances. The Grand National is considered as the ultimate test of riders, therefore the jockeys who perform brilliantly in this race are surely great jockeys of the world.

 

Almost over £150 million are betted every year on the mega race. And this year’s coming Grand National in April seem to be no different. Punters are already debating about their favourite horses while bookmakers are coming up with their best offers. Non Runner No Bet is the special offer by many bookmakers and so is the Best Odds Guaranteed offer.

 

Paddy Power is giving £20 Risk Free Bet while Betfair’s bonus could go up to £100. Coral is giving the Bet £5 Get £20 while William Hill is giving the Bet £10 Get £30. Dafabet’s £30 Free Bet offer is appealing and so is Bet £10 Get £30 of 888Sport. However, all these offers come with terms and conditions and so you better give a close reading to their terms and conditions.

 

For all your Grand National betting needs, you will not find any place better than freebets. Enjoy all the updates, odds and predictions along with the best tips to help you get the best out of your bucks.

 

1- George Stevens

 

George Stevens is the most successful jockey in the Grand National history who has got five victories in the big race. Stevens was born in 1833 and began his riding career when he was 16 or 17 years of age.

 

He managed to win the Grand Annual Steeple Chase in 1851 on Hardwick. From the period of 1848 to 1870, George Stevens won 76 races.

 

He rode Freetrader to win the 1856 Grand National, Emblem to win the 1863 Grand National, Emblematic to win the 1864 Grand National and The Colonel to win the Grand Nationals of 1869 and 1870. He died in 1871 due to a skull fracture which occured when his horse threw him while he was riding home.

 

2- Thomas Olliver

 

Thomas Olliver was the great steeplechase jockey who managed to claim 3 Grand Nationals during the 1840s and 50s. At just the age of 6, Olliver began riding. When the first official Grand National was run in 1839, he was also among the participating jockeys and finished second aboard Seventy Four.

 

His record of riding in 19 Grand Nationals remained standing until Tony McCoy rode his 20th Grand National in 2015. He won his first Grand National on Gaylad in 1842, second the following year on Vanguard and the third on Peter Simple in 1853.

 

He remained in grave financial difficulties because of his extravagances. He was generous and loved parties a great deal. He was also famous for being a ladies’ man.

 

3- AP McCoy

 

AP McCoy is one of the most renowned Irish horse racing jockies who is based in Ireland and the UK. He has an outstanding record of riding 4,358 winners. He is most famous for being a Champion Jockey a record 20 consecutive times.

 

AP McCoy rode his first winner in 1992 when he was just 17 years of age. Besides winning the Grand National, he also has managed victories in the Cheltenham festival such as the Gold Cup, RSA Chase and Queen Mother Champion Chase among many others. He was the BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 2010 and RTE Sports Person of the Year in 2013.

 

4- Bob Champion

 

Bob Champion became most famous for riding Aldaniti to victory in the 1981 Grand National. The great jockey was suffering from testicular cancer at that time. For this amazing win, he won the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Team Award. In 1983, he established the Bob Champion Cancer Trust to help other cancer patients and managed to raise millions.

 

His victory in the 1981 Grand National was later made into a film named Champions in which John Hurt portrayed Champion.

 

They call it the Cheltenham Roar for good reason, the tradition that takes place year in, year out at the very start of the Cheltenham Festival. To my ear it gets louder each year as the Festival continues to be, Grand National aside, the real jewel in the crowd of UK racing. There is often so much to look forward to, as the Festival is so steeped in history, with many an owner, trainer, jockey or horse making their name here. This is one of those events where everyone wants to come good. A real opportunity to shine and to show what your stable is capable of.

 

Punters take many different approaches to betting at Cheltenham. Some make this one of those events where they just have to be there to soak up the action, whether that’s just for a day or for the entire four day Festival (which starts March 13th and ends 16th March). Others have specific races in mind that they like to get involved with. When we consider that there have been 100-1 winners of the Cheltenham Gold Cup alone, it’s clear there are are many betting opportunities to be had, so if you find the latest Cheltenham betting odds and do your research, there’s definitely a potentially big upside to your betting bank.

The obvious highlight of the Festival is the Cheltenham Gold Cup, which takes place at 3:30pm on Friday 16th March every year and is one of the most highly anticipated and regarded races here is. Of course there are many other highlights over the four days though. Personal favourite races of mine, include the Arkle Challenge Trophy Steeple Chase and Champion Hurdle Challenge Trophy on day one, Queen Mother Champion Steeple Chase on day two, Stayers’ Hurdle on day three and the Triump Hurdle and (of course!) the Cheltenham Gold Cup on the fourth and final day.

Over £150 million is expected to be gambled by punters over the course of the festival across single bets and accumulators alike and so that really does attest to both the level of public interest and also the opportunities that are out there if you ‘think you know better’ than the average joe. Keep a close eye on the odds markets closer to the start of Cheltenham to see what opportunities you can spot.

For a taste of how a multiple / accumulator specific angle can benefit you look no further than stablelad Connor Murphy who placed a £50 acca on the five horses his boss had running at the 2012 Cheltenham Festival only for it to result in him winning a mind boggling sum of £1.2 million. He used the winning to propel himself into position of a successful thoroughbred trainer in Kentucky, a real rags to riches story of racing. He used part of the winnings to purchase ‘Dimension’ a horse that’s already gone on to win multiple races stateside. There was certainly an element of luck to his win but as they say you’ve got to be in it to win it!

 

We’ve been keen of late to highlight the dizzying variety of possible multiple bets  (doubles, trebles, fourfold etc) available and indeed how the returns that come your way really can be quite mind boggling if you find yourself backing enough winners. Many people are put off by placing bets on horse racing accumulators and the like because they think they have next to no chance of seeing a return, but the irony is that it’s at least an approach to betting that’s odds to chance, meaning that it’s a ‘fair bet’.

 

In the long run you certainly stand a reasonable chance of getting returns with multiple bets when compared to most other popular forms of betting. For instance if you ever get the chance of looking at the actual chance of getting 5 or 6 numbers up in the national lottery compared to what you win for doing so, you’d be amazed at the terrible odds you’re placing your bet on at. Case in point, the odds of getting 4 numbers is 2180-1 and 5 numbers is 144,415-1 . When you think of the average prize money for each of those outcomes, it’s a crumby bet. Why not instead  place a  well considered treble or acca on the horses using exclusive tips or by analysing form!

 

Even at the bookmakers how often do you see people piling their money into fixed odds betting terminals? They would be much better off just trying to analyse horse racing form and try to draw conclusions about what’s a good bet and what isn’t to push the odds in their favour somewhat. Of course that can apply to single bets too, as it’s all about finding value. Still, the added bonus with multiple bets is that you really don’t ever have to place a big bet and when you do win, you receive a healthy return at worst, and at best you can really clean up! Some of the examples I’ve listed previously include people winning hundreds of thousands, or even 1 million+ from a small bet of just a few pounds. With some skill and a dollop of luck you can go a long way. Get involved!