Lesley Rigg via Bigstockphoto
The Grand National is a race that can make dreams come true; for jockeys, trainers, owners and punters. And the 2025 edition did not disappoint, with a number of big money bets on winner Nick Rockett – who opened at 33/1 on Saturday morning before being backed into 20/1 – landing.
But the most eye-catching punt of the day was a huge flutter from a Ladbrokes customer, whose £1 each way four-fold turned into a near £30,000 payday in the space of a single afternoon…
Rockett Powered
Horse racing-Nick Rockett wins Grand National in emotional 1-2-3 for Mullins https://t.co/bQQv9taSNU pic.twitter.com/a1PpNaIVNq
— Reuters (@Reuters) April 5, 2025
Our punter’s glory played out over just a couple of hours on a sultry Saturday afternoon of racing. They had placed an each way, four-fold accumulator, with combined picks from Aintree, Newcastle and a meeting at Meydan, in the United Arab Emirates.
- Raging Torrent (3/1)
- Flic Ou Voyou (18/1)
- Cruz Control (10/1)
- Nick Rockett (33/1)
It was over to the UAE for the first selection, with Frankie Dettori in the saddle of Raging Torrent at Meydan. Doug O’Neill’s horse was more than comfortable with the front-running style demanded of him by Dettori, making all the running and staying on to win the Godolphin Mile by a handy three-and-a-half length margin.
Our punter’s globetrotting journey then took them to Newcastle, where a National Hunt meeting was unfolding simultaneously with the rather more engrossing action at Aintree. In the 14:40, a Class 3 chase, they had backed Henry Hogarth’s Flic Ou Voyou, who was something of a surprise 18/1 chance given his rating of 124 (compared to a field best of 125).
He’d won his previous two races, including one on good going at Newcastle, but an absence from the track since November perhaps saw punters lose interest in the eleven-year-old. But not our heroic Ladbrokes customer, who kept the faith and was rewarded with a handsome eleven-length victory, as Flic Ou Voyou went clear two from home and then asserted his class from there.
The third selection on the acca coupon was in a competitive Premier Handicap Chase at Aintree, although the door was knocked ajar when Cheltenham Festival scorer Myretown was declared a non-runner on the morning of the race. Market favouritism shifted to the impressive Imperial Saint, but he was inconsistent in his jumping and was left with plenty to do on the flat approaching the line.
He ultimately couldn’t reel in Cruz Control, our punter’s selection that had won this exact same race 12 months earlier. And history would repeat itself for Tom Lacey’s eight-year-old, who edged through the field under a patient ride from Stan Sheppard before taking hold on the run-in for home, showing tremendous staying power in what was a gruelling three-mile, two-furlong renewal.
All of which left our punter with the perfect three-from-three, and there must have been some consideration paid to cashing out given that the final race on their coupon, the Grand National, is one of the hardest to predict in all of racing. Nick Rockett had won both the Thyestes Handicap Chase and BobbyJo Chase in a stellar 2025, but when Mullins’ top jockey Townend decided to swerve the ride and instead pilot I Am Maximus, many punters would have been put off.
But not our hero of the piece, who kept the faith and was repaid with a £29,347 payday thanks to a stellar ride from amateur jockey – and Willie’s son – Patrick , who ironically finished two lengths clear of I Am Maximus following a fiercely-contested run in.
Halcyon Days
Aintree Racecourse (Roger May, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikipedia)
That fantastic four-fold wasn’t the only big winner on a hectic day of racing action. There was double trouble for William Hill after two punters took them for a combined haul of £35,000. One combined Nick Rockett and Great Yarmouth winner Marmoga (13/2) with shock 50/1 Aintree winner Deep Cave, who produced one of the meeting’s biggest shocks by landing a Premier Handicap – the £2 each way treble earned its placer a handy £20,236.
But somehow more impressive was one intrepid punter’s Grand National tricast, which requires the perfect 1-2-3 finishing order to be correctly predicted. Our punter struck a £12 combination tricast and watched on with delight as Nick Rockett, I Am Maximus and Grangeclare West completed a treble for Mullins and rewarded the anonymous individual with £15,332.
William Hill’s spokesperson, Lee Phelps, confirmed:
While the result of this year’s Grand National had looked one for the layers, we’ve been stung by two nice bets which have stopped us reaching for the champagne.