Professional Background
Matthew has been associated with the Grand National since taking bets on the big race at William Hill's call centre in the 1990s. He graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in history and then headed south to London. He was part of the online betting revolution at Sporting Index and Betfair.
His career took him back to his native north-west to become Head of Marketing at bet365. He was responsible for bringing the marketing department in-house and helping to lay the foundations for future success. Matthew now runs his own limited company providing content to sites such as this one. He writes cutting-edge horse racing content and that includes the big Aintree race. He has been an avid viewer of the Grand National from an early age.
Specialist Subjects
Matthew is a keen football fan and also a horse racing enthusiast. He grew up close to Chester Racecourse and has attended the Aintree Grand National meeting on several occasions. He's a Tranmere Rovers supporter and often finds himself in Merseyside as a result.
Matthew's football and racing knowledge ensure that he can write confidently about both sports. He also has decades of experience working in the betting industry and understands the needs and wants of each customer.
Hobbies and Interests
Matthew enjoys running and regularly does the local parkruns. He's also at the gym on a regular basis doing fitness classes and playing tennis. He loves to coach football and the same applies to refereeing, which he does for college and university football matches.
Matthew's a keen reader and enjoys pub quizzes. He enjoys eating at different restaurants and would be a chef if he wasn't a sports content writer, coach and referee.
Matthew's Top Tips for Grand National Betting
Get the Biggest Each-Way Terms
The bookies will want to provide each-way value and you should hunt down the betting sites who have the most places available. Some bookmakers will pay down to five or six places and that gives you a bigger chance of a return.
Look at the Weights on the Racecard
The runners will all be differently handicapped, with up to thirty-four in the field. The racecard is generally ordered according to the weight allowance. The top-weighted horses are regarded as the best ones and that's why they're saddled with more weight. Sometimes it can be beneficial to go for a lower weighted horse that has beaten the handicapper.
Choose More Than One Horse Against the Field
I generally recommend that you create a shortlist of horses and stake accordingly. There's the chance to make a decent return by selecting a number of runners and you might even want to go each-way for all of them and stand to get good returns.