Grand National Winners: Betfair and Mon Mome made in heaven

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Jack Houghton /
05 April 2011 /
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Mon Mome was a rare case of a Grand National winner trading at a big price in-running

“Then came 2009 and Mon Mome. The 100-1 shot provided a big enough story in the betting jungle at large – becoming only the fifth horse to win the race at such a gargantuan starting price.”

Jack Houghton recalls some of the Grand National winners since the emergence of Betfair and tells us why Mon Mome’s victory made him smile.

Some partnerships disappoint. Think Bing Crosby and David Bowie in their Christmas rendition of Little Drummer Boy. Both singers masters of their own domain, brought together in front of that grand piano. Bing wearing a stunning blue Slazenger cardie. Dave wearing the most agape of open-necked shirts. How could it have gone wrong? Go wrong it did though: Bing looking like a constipated reindeer, desperately looking around to see where Rudolph went; Dave looked like he’d started to smell something rather unpleasant.

A similar story seemed to be in the offing for Betfair and the Grand National. They appeared a match made in heaven. One, a punchy start-up betting company, born in 2000, about to experience beanstalk growth; a pioneer of in-running betting. The other, the biggest horserace in the world, renowned for its unpredictability. And yet, year after year, the race came and went, without a Betfair story of any note to show for it.

The closest we came to getting excited was when Amberleigh House won the race in 2004. Matched in Betfair‘s ante-post market at a high of [90.0], he was available at a solid [28.0] pre-race. However, despite coming from a long way back to snatch the lead in the last 75 yards, he reached a high of just [36.0] in-running.

Clan Royal tried. In 2005, thousands were punted on him in-running – at prices as low as [3.0] – despite a slipped saddle and his relentless early pace. But before the in-running story could develop further, he was taken out by two loose horses approaching Becher’s. The only other in-running story the race could manage was that the eventual winner, Hedgehunter, briefly touched [12.0] mid-race. Hardly anything to get excited about.

In 2007 Silver Birch also tried his hardest. With a starting price of 33-1, he had been matched at a high of [320.0] in the ante-post market and was a [60.0] chance at the off. Runner-up Mckelvey traded at a low of [1.5] in-running and third-placed Slim Pickings at a low of [2.0]. But still, no front page story.

Then came 2009 and Mon Mome..The 100-1 shot provided a big enough story in the betting jungle at large – becoming only the fifth horse to win the race at such a gargantuan starting price. But it was on the machine that the real story developed. Going off at a Betfair SP of [143.0], the horse hit the maximum price of [1000.0] on three separate occasions during the race. As one of four horses put up by betting.betfair blogger Robin Adams, a few regular readers cheered the result. Not this regular reader, it should be noted.

In-running stories aside, the Aintree spectacular also offers an interesting marking post against which to measure Betfair’s rise to prominence.

A press release from Betfair after Red Marauder’s win in 2001 trumpeted a landmark occasion: on the Thursday of the Grand National meeting, the exchange broke through the £1m turnover mark for the first time. That’s £1m in a WEEK. Considering well over £10m will be traded on this year’s race alone, it’s clear that a lot has changed in the last decade.

Grand National Winners: Betfair and Mon Mome made in heaven