UK racing bettors will head into relatively uncharted territory this weekend with the running of the Virtual Grand National after the real-world version was pandemicked out of action.

In mid-March, UK’s racing authorities bowed to the inevitable and cancelled the Grand National 2020, which was scheduled to be held at Aintree racecourse this Saturday (4). Aintree owner Jockey Club scrapped the entire three-day meeting to comply with the government’s efforts to minimize further spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

With most other sports and racing events having already fallen victim to pandemic mitigation, bookmakers were left with another marquee hole on their betting calendar. Virtual technology has now ridden to the rescue, and while bookmakers won’t directly benefit, they might convince virtual bettors to stick around and see what other fake sports might catch their interest.

For the past three years, broadcaster ITV has aired a simulated version of the Grand National ahead of the actual race courtesy of virtual race/sports stars Inspired Entertainment. Using historical race data and the runners’ form and preferences, computer algorithms plot out how the race is likely to run and CGI takes care of the rest.