by Anton Johan
It was Tony McCoy's smile that set the Grand National on fire as the
champion jockey took the ten year old mount, Don't Push It to victory on Sunday.
UK bookies, however, had the smile wiped off of their face after the horse's
gamble halved from an opening 20/1 in the morning of the race to 10/1 joint
favourite just before the race itself.
This is the fifteenth time that Tony McCoy attempted the world's most
prestigious horse race, and his success this weekend proved that one should
never give up.
"It was a very poor result for us as once the momentum got behind McCoy we
were praying it would end in defeat just like his previous 14 attempts in the
National," noted Sky Bet's Matt Doyle.
"It wasn't to be for us," he continued, "and we salute the Champion jockey
through gritted teeth as he had been dogged by such bad luck in the race with
Clan Royal cruising when carried out in 2005 second time round."
An emotional McCoy was besieged by requests for interviews by the media after
winning the 163rd Grand National.
"It's everything to win the Grand National," he told the BBC. "I have won
lots of great races but I am supposed to be a great rider and to have
won it was a big gap in the CV. I am delighted."
The Grand National was just one of several top sporting events that took
place this weekend, and which saw an estimated £1 billion bet. Punters placed
their wagers on the Masters Golf tournament in the United States, as well as two
FA Cup semi finals.
Over 70,000 people turned out at Aintree, Liverpool to watch the race on a
gloriously sunny day.
Millions took advantage of the weather to barbeque over the weekend, with
Asda reporting that it had sold 2.5 million packs of meat, 300 tonnes of
charcoal and 50% more BBQ sets.
