Bookies bracing for £100m pay-out if My Will wins National

BOOKMAKERS believe John Smith’s Grand National success for ante-post favourite My Will could cost the industry up to £100m at Aintree on Saturday.

William Hill estimate that over half of the punters betting on the National base their selections on names, and as over 500,000 people in the UK hold the first name ’William’ and nearly 300,000 have the surname ’Williams’, bookmakers are bracing themselves for a monster payout.

To make matters worse, the 7-1 market leader is piloted by punters’ favourite Ruby Walsh and trained by champion trainer Paul Nicholls.