Bookmakers were left counting the costs after joint favourite, Comply or Die won the 2008 John Smiths Grand National. This year’s Aintree spectacle is estimated to have attracted over £400 million in bets placed in betting shops and on the internet and following the result, bookmakers are reporting big losses on the race for the first time in years as seemingly millions of punters up and down the country had backed the winner.

One website that won’t be facing losses is betting exchange Betfair, whose market on the race traded over £15 million as punters bet agaisnt each other, with Betfair taking a commision on every bet up to 5%. However, for the more traditional ‘high street’ bookies the result saw massive payout but not from the horse they feared the most in the days leading up to the race. It was Cloudy Lane that was expected to start as the favourite; but continued support for Comply or Die throughout Saturday saw the David Pipe trained winner start as the 7/1 joint favourite alongside Cloudy Lane, who could only manage 6th position - much to the delight of millions of punters up and down the country who had backed the winner at odds as big as 10/1.

The BBC reported that an impressives 10.1 million people watched the race live on Saturday afternoon.