Flat cap wearing racing fan Trevor Hemmings is hoping Lady Luck is on his side as he bids to make history this weekend as the owner with the most wins in the history of the Grand National.

Mr Hemmings notched up three victories with Hedgehunter in 2005, Ballabriggs in 2011 and Many Clouds in 2015 .

He owns the current hot favourite, Cloth Cap, trained by Jonjo O’Neill. But Mr Hemmings won’t be flying across to Merseyside to watch and will instead be sitting watching the event on television from his base at the Ballaseyr Stud near Andreas.

Mr Hemmings said: ’I will not be going to Aintree this year due to the circumstances surrounding Covid-19. I would not like to bring back to the island something we are trying to keep away. I only hope we’re lucky enough to have the trophy.’

He loves to see Manx punters winning at the bookmakers’ expense and, despite all the problems caused by the pandemic which has meant he has not gone to a race meeting for over a year, he has not lost his enthusiasm for chalking up a ground-breaking fourth success in the big race.

He said: ’We’re looking forward to this year’s race with Cloth Cap.

’Hopefully I’ve got Lady Luck with me and that every horse comes back safe. But I would like my horse to come back first.’

Many traditional once-a-year punters normally pop along in person to the bookmakers, but they are currently closed in the island because of the current lockdown.

Warwick Bartlett, chief executive of the Castletown-based Global Betting and Gaming Consultants (GBGC), told the Manx Independent: ’It will be a disappointment for the betting shops to be closed, the busiest single day of the year.

’Many during Covid-19 have now gone online and my advice is to bet early.’

Former bookie Mr Bartlett added: ’I expect the volume of bets placed prior to the off to be significant and as we have seen in previous years the computers just cannot cope, and punters might not get their bet on in time. Personally I have never liked betting on the favourite in the Grand National, I just don’t think the odds reflect the chance to win this lottery of a race.’