The outsiders to watch for this year’s Grand National

The organisers of the Grand National have announced the biggest field of possible entries in 7 years, with 128 horses being named in the long list for the race. Much of the money bookmakers receive from Grand National betting will probably be for the current favourite and last year’s winner Many Clouds. The race is the busiest day in a bookmaker’s calendar and most of the novice betters who just bet once a year are more than likely to go for a name they recognise who has won previously and has good odds. But at this early stage, when the ante-post rule is producing some really long odds, there’s the possibility of getting even much bigger returns if an outsider wins on the nose or even places. Here’s a look at the outsiders we think you should be keeping an eye on with just weeks to go until the Grand National betting market really kicks off.

If you’re really looking for a good return on your bet, you’ll want to place an each way bet on one of the horses as far down the running order as you think has a chance of finishing. As long as they finish in the top 4 then betting sites like Coral will pay out 1/5 on the odds which can still mean a lot of money on some of the big outsiders. At the moment, Double Ross is amongst the horses at the back end of the field with odds of just 66/1 in Coral’s Grand National betting market. In 2014 the horse finished fifth in the Grand National so there’s every possibility this horse could do one better and place in the top 4 positions Coral is paying out for or even win the race. He has put some more competitive performances in since then, including a solid fourth place in the Gold Cup at Cheltenham this year, so he could end up being one of the more unlikely success stories over three days of the Grand National festival.

The outsider that is getting the most attention in the Grand National betting markets is Kruzhlinin at 33/1. The horse’s rider Richard Johnson is highly experience and this will be his 20th entry into the Grand National. The horse itself is looking in the best jumping form it has in years so the two together could be a dream team. The horses name also gives another good reason why betting on websites like Coral makes life easier, as the most difficult thing about betting on Kruzhlinin is probably trying to pronounce his name.

But you don’t even have to look too far down the field to find some good odds. At the moment, the joint second favourites are Holywell, Shutthefrontdoor and The Druids Nephew are all at 20/1 odds on the Coral website. Although still second favourites to win, they will still deliver a tasty reward if they win on the nose or place with these odds. But time is ticking, as these horses odds were 25/1 or longer before the weights were announced earlier this month so be quick to get involved with the Grand National Betting before the market changes again.