Virtual 2020 Grand National

The 2020 Virtual Grand National is being shown live on ITV1 at 5 pm on Saturday 4th April.

Racing presenter Nick Luck will host the live show alongside Richard Pitman who rode Crisp in the 1973 Grand National and after leading for much of the race was famously collared on the run in by Red Rum who was winning the first of his three Grand Nationals.

Talking of Red Rum, after the main event is broadcast live there will also be a Grand National "Champions" virtual race shown live on ITV featuring 40 past Grand National winners including Aintree legends Red Rum and Tiger Roll.

Who will come out on top, Tiger Roll or Red Rum ? ... 

Take a look at our in depth article "Who is the Greatest Grand National Winner?" to help you decide!

Read on below to see how the Virtual Grand National works..

The Virtual Grand National is the creation of Inspired Entertainment, a company based in the UK. 

Using the latest Computer-Generated Imagery (CGI) technology, the world's greatest steeplechase and Aintree's famous obstacles like "Becher's Brook" and "The Chair" along with the 40 horses and jockeys have been recreated in stunning graphic animation to simulate the real Aintree racecourse and Grand National giving viewers the same feel.

The Virtual Grand National is run using a set of data algorithms to determine the result, including past form, ability to handle the Grand National fences, preferred going conditions etc.

The forty Virtual Grand National runners and riders participating will be those most likely to have taken part had the real event gone ahead on Saturday 4th April 2020.

Prior to the cancellation of this year's real Aintree showpiece, the history seeking Tiger Roll was heading the Grand National ante post betting along with fancied runners Any Second Now, Definitly Red and last year's 66/1 runner up Magic of Light.

This year's Virtual Grand National will be the 4th running since inception in 2017 and Inspired Entertainment say they have worked on making the 2020 running even more realistic than ever!

Let's take a look at the Virtual Grand National history and results.

The 2020 Virtual Grand National will be the 4th running, the inaugural event in 2017 along with the last two years have been broadcast live on ITV the evening before the Grand National.

In the three years to date, the Virtual Grand National predictor has been very close to the actual result each year including predicting Tiger Roll to win in 2018.

Using the Virtual Grand National winner in each of the three year's to date and placing an each way bet on the actual race would have resulted in a profit each year.

Here's how the Virtual Grand National result and actual race result have compared in those three years:

2019	Virtual Grand National Result	Actual Grand National Result
1st	Rathvinden	3rd (8/1)
2nd	Tiger Roll	WON (4/1f)
3rd	Jury Duty	Unseated Rider (20th Fence)
4th	Anibale Fly	5th
Finishers	19	19
Unseated Rider	4	2
Fell	10	5 (inc. 1 Brought Down)
Pulled Up/Refused	7	14

• Another close call with a near reverse forecast pay out, virtual winner Rathvinden finishing 3rd at 8/1 and virtual runner up Tiger Roll winning the actual race at 4/1 favourite.
• Virtual 4th Anibale Fly came home 5th and the number of finishers was spot on with 19 in both races.

Watch the 2019 Virtual Grand National here:

Here's how the results matched up in 2018:

2018	Virtual Grand National Result	Actual Grand National Result
1st	Tiger Roll	1st (10/1)
2nd	Chase The Spud	Pulled Up
3rd	Total Recall	Pulled Up
4th	Houblon Des Obeaux	Fell (6th Fence)
Finishers	30	12
Unseated Rider	1	5
Fell	6	8 (inc. 2 Brought Down)
Pulled Up/Refused	3	13

• The Virtual Grand National predictor get's it's first winner with 10/1 shot Tiger Roll obliging.
• No joy with the placed horses and the number of finishers were much closer to the mark in year's either side of here.

Here's Tiger Roll winning the 2018 Virtual Grand National:

Very nearly off to a Virtual winning start in 2017:

2017	Virtual Grand National Result	Actual Grand National Result
1st	Cause of Causes	2nd (16/1)
2nd	Pleasant Company	9th
3rd	Vieux Lion Rouge	6th
4th	Vicente	Fell (1st fence)
Finishers	20	19
Unseated Rider	5	5
Fell	7	3
Pulled Up/Refused	8	13

• So the first Inspired Entertainment Virtual Grand National on ITV nearly started with an actual winner, Cause of Causes the virtual winner finished runner up at 16/1 to One For Arthur in the real race, beaten 4.5 lengths.
• The total number of horses predicted to complete the course was just one out, 20 in the Virtual race, 19 in the actual race.
• Those that deposited the jockey was spot on with 5 unseating.

Here's the rerun of the 2017 Virtual Grand National:

Who will win the 2020 Virtual Grand National ?

Do you fancy Tiger Roll to win his second Virtual Grand National ?

Tune into ITV1 at 5 pm on Saturday 4th April to watch the Virtual 2020 Grand National and the Virtual Champions race.