Punters smash betting record

Aintree: Bookies cheered by jockey Richard Guest's win

A surge in Grand National flutters helped bookmakers achieve record takings last weekend, early returns indicate.

UK and Irish bookies believe they have for the first time taken £100m in bets in a single weekend.

Betting shops are crediting the surge on a sporting programme which included, besides the Grand National, US Masters golf, Six Nations rugby, the FA Cup semi-finals and a big fight in Las Vegas.

Six Nations rugby: part of a sport-packed weekend

"It was 48 hours of quality sport, a really good programme of events," a Ladbrokes spokesman told BBC News Online.

The bookies' Grand National takings alone may have reached £100m, the spokesman said.

Ladbrokes itself, which claims one quarter of UK off-course betting turnover and one third of Grand National turnover, believes its takings on this year's race were up about 20% from last year.

In Ireland, takings at bookmaker Paddy Power were up "at least 20%".

"Our betting shops were packed to the rafters on Saturday," the chain's operating executive, also called Paddy Power, said.

UK betting giant William Hill, which is still compiling final figures, said it was "hopeful" of a record weekend.

Internet boom

Mr Power credited the betting boom on factors including the foot-and-mouth outbreak which, by forcing the cancellation of Cheltenham, had left gamblers "short of top quality racing".

Ladbrokes cited a reduced stigma to betting, prompted by a growing acceptance of the National Lottery, as a factor in last weekend's surge.

Both firms also said the growth of online betting was an important factor in boosting takings.

"It has been a real growth area," the Ladbrokes spokesman said.

"Probably £4-5m of the £100m was taken through the internet this year. Last year that figure was more like 0.5%, and the year before a fraction of that."

Paddy Power, which reported a 30% rise in the number of online gamblers in the first three months of the year, said its internet operations had processed about 12,000 Grand National bets.

Payouts

The surge in takings is, however, unlikely to be accompanied by a huge rise in payouts to winning punters.

Tiger Woods: victory not a threat to bookies

The result of the Grand National, won by 33-1 Red Marauders, will have caused little trouble to most bookies, who tend to worry most when a more widely-backed horse wins.

And while the US Master was won by Tiger Woods, the favourite, Paddy Power said it was not expecting a payout spree.

"Tiger Woods was short priced, and people were looking for higher priced players to beat him and betting on those," Mr Power said.