Grand National Day!

First of all, I want to make it clear that this is in no way a sponsored post and nor do I encourage betting! In fact, this is probably the first ever bet I've made in my life!

Today is Grand National Day. Officially started in 1839, the Grand National is a national hunt horse race held anually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool. There are 40 horses that take part in this race and the odds for each horse are usually pretty good, since there is lot of luck on the day! Last year's winner was called Auroras Encore but its anyone's race today...

I have never ever placed a bet on the Grand National before. It's something that you always seem to be aware of when its happening, because everyone is chattering about who to bet on. However this year I am actually dating someone who works in a book makers, so I figured what the hell!

This morning I opened an account with Paddy Power. For betting £10, I got a £20 free bet. With that in mind, I told the girls they could have £5 each on a horse and Chris and I would have £10 each.

After explaining the concept of the race to Megan and Lily, I then pulled up a list of the racing horses. I told them there were lots of ways to pick, depending on odds, chances of winning, name of the horse or even the colour silks the jockey wears.

Lily picked easily, her bet based on colours. She picked Vesper Bell, a horse who's jockey is wearing all pink (her favourite colour).

Megan took a lot more time to pick her horse. She read the little bit of blurb, she looked at the odds and in the end she went for Rose of the Moon (though she was close to picking Golan Way).

I text Chris and though I have no idea what method he has for picking (inside knowledge maybe?) he picked to bet on The Package. He hedged his bets a little more than the girls though and chose to bet E/W, instead of just straight out win.

As for my bet, I'm a little undecided at the moment. I understand the odds and I've read the little blurb. I've looked at the colours and the names of the horses. However nothing really jumps out at me. TeaforThree - because its the favourite? Wayward Prince - because who wouldn't want to bet on a Prince? Vesper Bell - well it has my name in it for a start... Shakalakaboomboom - because it has an awesome name!? Or Golan Way because it would have a massive payout?

For now I'm going to leave my choice as a surprise! I'll update you later if any of us win. However if any of you are wanting to bet but having a dilemma on who to pick, you might want to try this: The Grand National Horse Generator (How do you pick yours?). I was very amused when this popped into my inbox yesterday, in an email from Coral.

Whether you want to pick by number, colour, name, form or even crystal ball - this is a fun little generator to get you started! The girls and I all had a go on it, though I have to admit none of us went with their suggestions!!

Are you betting on The Grand National today?

Even if you're not technically betting, who is your money on?