According to British bookmakers on Monday, Corach Rambler's victory at the Grand National over the weekend led to mixed results for bookies, and betting on one of

Britain's most popular sporting events was relatively subdued.

This year's Grand National, which attracts both seasoned and casual gamblers, took place at a time when Britons are grappling with a cost-of-living crisis due to elevated inflation and high borrowing costs. Additionally, the event on Saturday was briefly delayed by animal rights protesters at Aintree.

Flutter Entertainment, which owns brands Sky Bet, Betfair (sports book), and Paddy Power, disclosed that the total bets on the race across its UK and Ireland online brands were 10.9 million, slightly higher than last year's 10.4 million. However, Corach Rambler's triumph as the favourite resulted in Flutter losing a "seven-figure" sum, which it partly regained from other bets.

Last year, William Hill had reported a turnover of around 200 million pounds ($247.56 million) for the Grand National. "We're looking at numbers in line with last year, so no notable growth to report which was expected given the wider fiscal and regulatory headwinds in the UK at the moment," said William Hill spokesperson Lee Phelps. The gambling group operates online and betting shops across the United Kingdom.

Entain, the owner of Ladbrokes, stated that 18% of its UK online customers backed Corach Rambler. However, Entain did not provide any further information as it is scheduled to release its first-quarter results on Tuesday.

Revenue growth from online gambling in British firms has been decelerating from pandemic highs and is now beginning to taper off. Photo by RacingKel, Wikimedia commons.