Where to bet as a football fan at the Grand National

With the 173rd running of the world-famous Grand National set to take place this weekend, we take a look at the many links football has with horse racing!

Sir Alex Ferguson, whose 50-1 shot takes aim at the £1,000,000, four mile 514-yards marathon, is looking to register what would arguably be his most memorable triumph on Merseyside!

Be Lucky!

• Manchester United to be represented by Give Me A Copper at the Grand National
• Sir Alex’s 50-1 shot could give him a 30th win on Liverpool soil
• Premier League bosses Klopp, Guardiola and Bielsa all have horses named after them
• Aguerooo, Van Dijk, Yorkshire Pirlo & Born To Finish spark added interest from beautiful game
• Study breaks down which horses to back depending on your football team

Manchester United fans need look no further than Give Me A Copper, as legendary football manager Sir Alex Ferguson goes in search of another famous win on Merseyside.

Ferguson famously oversaw the Red Devils’ golden generation in the 90s, stocking the Old Trafford trophy cabinet with 38 trophies, including 13 Premier League titles, five FA Cups and two Champions Leagues.

Sir Alex’s runner in this weekend’s Grand National at Aintree has already stirred the interest of the United faithful, with the lightly-raced, Paul Nicholls-trained 11-year-old ticking plenty of boxes for the big race.

It appears the Irish gelding has been fine-tuned with Saturday’s big race in mind and is thought to be well suited to the 173rd running of the £1,000,000 steeplechase.

And while the English Premier League has turned into a one-horse race with clear daylight, or 17 points, between runaway leaders Manchester City and second-placed United, there are plenty of football themed horses to prick your interest.

OLBG has scoured the equine world to compile What’s In A Mane?, a list of race horses linked to football clubs or owned by current/ex professionals to see which clubs have the biggest links to horseracing and which clubs are the most popular in the racing world.

They may not be enjoying the best of times on the pitch, but it is a good time to be an Arsenal fan in horse racing with former striker Ian Wright involved with the most successful football-related horse still racing, syndicate-owned Born to Finish.

The partnership has struck victory on 10 occasions, as well as placing 15 times in 64 starts, pocketing career earnings of £57,621. 

A list of the top-performing football-related horses

Horse name	Club of relevance	Owner	Starts	Wins	Places	Earnings
Born To Finish	Arsenal	Crowd Racing & R Christison	64	10	15	£ 57,621.00
Aguerooo	Manchester City	P E Axon	74	9	14	£ 64,893.00
Man U	Manchester United	Michael Biehler	30	7	4	£ 77,507.77
Christopher Wood	Burnley	Ms Sharon Kinsella	27	7	8	£ 79,300.00
Klopp	Liverpool	Antony Brittain	33	6	10	£ 30,811.00
Mancini	Manchester City	Dr Marwan Koukash	25	6	5	£ 60,479.00
Erik Le Rouge	Manchester United	The Culverhill Racing Club	18	6	2	£ 66,134.00
United	Manchester United	LNJ Foxwoods	12	6	5	£ 1,113,825.00
De Bruyne Horse	Manchester City	A Turton, Rob Massheder, A Rhodes & 1	46	5	3	£ 48,930.00
Busby	Manchester United	The Giggle Factor Partnership	29	5	3	£ 42,790.00

Away from the Grand National, Manchester City fans will want to follow the fortunes of Aguerooo – named after the famous commentary – a nine-year-old Irish horse, who debuted at Lingfield in the summer of 2015 and has subsequently chalked up nine wins and 14 places from 74 starts, earning £64,893 in the process.

The Charlie Wallis-trained gelding has made six appearances this year, the most recent a fifth place finish at Southwell on Saturday just gone at 3-1.

Elsewhere, Anthony Brittain’s Irish mare Klopp has won on six occasions in 33 starts, with stable mates van Dijk and Henry De Bromhead-trained Mosala giving Liverpool fans plenty of equine interest away from Anfield should they wish to distract themselves from a nightmare 2021.

Lincolnshire based Middleham Park Racing have nailed their sky blue colours to the mast with the likes of Cityzen Serg, Captain Dunne and Gerard’s Slip all turning out, while Guardiola, a five-year-old gelding with a modest record, plys his trade across the pond, in the USA.

There is plenty of interest in Premier League new boys Leeds United, with Bielsa racking up four wins in 10 starts and earnings of £35,765, while Yorkshire Pirlo – named after Kalvin Phillips – and the Highbank Stud trio of Captain Cooper, Radrizzani and Pablo Hernandez, plus Alioski and Marchingontogether give Leeds fans plenty of on course interest.

Kingpower Racing, masterminded by the late former chairman of Leicester City Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha, boasts horses named Fox Vardy, Fox Premier and King Power, the latter being the daughter of wonder horse Frankel, with a transfer fee of $3,485,213 paid in October 2017.

Already in 2021, Aiyawatt Srivaddhanaprabha, who succeeded his father at the helm of the burgeoning racing string, has overseen eight wins from 38 runs in 2021, banking £116,789.