Former Bath Rugby star Mike Tindell may just be onto a winner for the Grand National - if a top mathematician has got his numbers right.
Channel 4 GoggleBox boffin William Hartston says he has developed a complex formula to find the winner of the Grand National and has predicted Tindall's horse Monbeg Dude will be first past the post.
Mr Hartston said: ''This year's scoring system is based on a re-analysis of the results of all Aintree Grand Nationals since 1886. Unlike last year, I have given a weighting towards recent years and added an item relating to the name of the trainer. I would have liked to include the name of the jockey too, but in many cases this is not available until the morning of the race.
''Had I been able to do so last year, Seabass would not have been my top choice: no jockey whose first name begins with K has ever won the Grand National, so Katie Walsh stood very little chance." He added: "Monbeg came top and looks like the best bet as far as I'm concerned."
Mr Hartston, 66, has been studying the form from every Grand National since 1886 before putting the bookies' odds, the horse's age, letters in the owner's name and the letters and number of words in the horses' name to come up with his tip.
