Dual Grand National winning jockey Leighton Aspell will retire after riding at Fontwell on Sunday. Aspell, 43, will ride Ventura Dragon (4.20) and Itsnotwhatyouthink (5.20) for two of his biggest fans.

Champion trainer Paul Nicholls gave himself a chance of retaining his title after a treble - led by Midlands National winner Truckers Lodge - enabled him to almost half chief rival's lead.

The Grand National was dramatically called off on Monday night after new Government restrictions to fight the spread of coronavirus made it impossible to stage the Aintree showpiece.

It was announced by Jockey Club Racecourses on Monday evening that the biggest betting race of the year will not take place at Aintree next month, because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Jump jockey Danny Cook should have been dreaming about riding leading hope Definitly Red in the £1million Randox Health Grand National at Aintree on April 4.

Presenter Ed Chamberlin says he hopes ITV broadcasting racing from Ireland on Saturday will be a tonic for sports fans in a barren live sporting landscape.

Hundreds of new homes are to be built on a stud farm near Newmarket, Sebastian Shakespeare has the latest including what's going on with the Archer's actors and what Mumford & Sons are using for loo roll.

We will never know if Tiger Roll would have won a third Grand National at Aintree on April 4 but we will get to see if he wins the 2020 Virtual Grand National with ITV planning to broadcast the race.

The bookmaking industry are close to announcing a plan to bet on Saturday's Virtual Reality Grand National with any profits made going to the NHS Charities Group.

EXCLUSIVE BY DOMINIC KING AND MATT HUGHES: The cancellation of Saturday's Randox Health Grand National will cost almost half a billion pounds in lost revenue.

Soldiers were pictured alongside the aircraft this afternoon and then seen scoping out the site, which is less than a mile from Aintree Hospital in Merseyside.

EXCLUSIVE BY MARCUS TOWNEND: Racemail understands the historic organisation, which was formed in 1750 and has 15 British racecourse, has furloughed nearly two thirds of its workforce.

The Jockey Club announced the first day of the 2021 festival would be renamed Liverpool's NHS Day, with thousands of tickets donated to NHS and professional carers in Merseyside.

Millions of people take part every year in a Grand National sweepstake - and even though the race won't be run this year, you can still have some fun with our kit for Saturday's Virtual Grand National. 

Forty runners and riders will line up tomorrow for the most anticipated race of the jumps season - but, with horseracing shut down, the Grand National's venue will be cyberspace, not Aintree.

It is just for fun but go on, admit it, you're just a little bit curious to see if Tiger Roll can make Grand National history - even if it is only in a virtual world.

Glamorous would-be attendees have been donning their glad-rags and showcasing their fineries online as they mark Ladies Day at Aintree during the coronavirus pandemic.

The first Saturday in April could have been one of the biggest days in racing in recent memory, but this year's Grand National will instead be held virtually. Here, Sportsmail's Sam Turner provides his tips...

PETER SCUDAMORE: Despite big weight, dual winner Tiger Roll must surely go close to landing a Grand National hat-trick in Saturday's virtual race, but KIMBERLITE CANDY is my bet.

Ahead of Saturday's Virtual Grand National programme on ITV which also includes a Race of Champions, Sportsmail's MARCUS TOWNEND relives 10 of the Greatest Grand Nationals.

Usually an appetiser before the main event, the virtual version of the famous steeplechase takes centre stage on Saturday after the famous Aintree race was cancelled due to coronavirus.

DOMINIC KING: It's the jarring sight of the Blue Anchor that first strikes you. This huge pub, a furlong from the Melling Road, is usually such a bouncing venue for the three days.

MARCUS TOWNEND: We've had the void Grand National, the bomb scare Grand National and dramas like Devon Loch collapsing on the run-in with the race at his mercy in 1956.

Almost five million people tuned in to Saturday's Virtual Grand National won by 18-1 shot Potters Corner as over £2.6million was raised for NHS Charities Together from people betting on the race.

Potters Corner won his trainer Christian Williams a virtual fortune yesterday during a computer simulation of the Grand National watched by almost five million viewers.

Laurie Lee died in 1997. A couple of years ago, David Parker, who made a documentary, found his recordings of Lee in a mis-labelled box and presented them to Penguin

The most frequently quoted observation about Hollywood is the simplest, and possibly also the truest. 'In Hollywood,' said screenwriter William Goldman, 'no one knows anything.'

House Of Glass flows with the amazing clarity and delicacy of a fine novel. By the end, I was completely wrapped up in the sharply contrasting characters of the Glass family

Here We Are opens in a theatre in Brighton, 1959. A snazzy tap-dancing showbiz personality called Jack Robinson is waiting in the wings. The world of entertainment is on the cusp of change

For the most part, Kate Fall regards her role as a memoirist as an extension of her job as gatekeeper: to present the polished face of the Cameron administration to the world

Bernice A. King, Martin Luther King Jr.'s daughter, delivered speech at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, on MLK Day. Thousands around the country celebrate his legacy.

Mexican authorities recaptured 100 of more than 200 that fled an immigration station on Monday in southern Mexico as hundreds more remained stuck on the Suchiate River's shore.

Boris Johnson's plan to scrap a minimum earnings threshold for migrants who want to move to the UK after Brexit has sparked a backlash among Tory MPs.

The Prime Minister will vow to 'mobilise the full breadth of our new freedoms' on Brexit night - as his Bill paving the way for Britain to leave the EU was finally passed by Parliament yesterday.

The Home Secretary apparently set out on Tuesday that there will be no so-called 'carve outs' under Boris Johnson's Australian-style points-based immigration system.

The Health Secretary sought to reassure the public today as he addressed MPs about the killer outbreak that has led Beijing to place a city larger than London in quarantine.

Priti Patel today launched a savage attack on big British business as she said companies had become 'far too reliant on low skilled' and 'cheap' workers from the EU.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon insisted it is vital that immigration from the EU is allowed to carry on after Brexit, saying the economy needs workers.

New Zealand expatriates in Australia have called on Russell Crowe to support their bid to change 'racially discriminatory' citizenship laws.

The Migration Advisory Committee said post-Brexit arrangements to replace EU freedom of movement could slow the growth in the UK population and make people slightly better off.

Boris Johnson lashed out after the SNP leader said immigration from the EU must continue north of the border because the economy needs workers.

A rapist who dodged deportation after a mutiny by plane passengers will next month launch another bid to avoid being booted out of Britain. Yaqub Ahmed was jailed for a total of nine years.

Dozens of foreigners who may have been exposed to the potentially deadly coronavirus are set to be secretly held in isolation at a hotel near the centre of Sydney, a source has revealed. 

The clip shows Jennifer Lopez, 50, giving her team a pep-talk and holding hands with them in prayer before they take to the stage for Sunday's half-time performance at Super Bowl LIV in Miami.

A student bragged about how he snuck into Australia from China by lying on his arrival form, despite a travel ban to protect citizens from coronavirus.

The court filing on Monday accuses Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration of ignoring subpoenas from Immigration and Customs Enforcement demanding information about Reeaz Khan.

Surveillance video from a private prison in California captured the moment guards pepper sprayed and beat eight Central American migrants that went on a hunger strike in June 2017.

HENRY DEEDES: I have spent two rollercoaster weeks watching Donald Trump at close quarters, and speaking to scores who voted for him in 2016 and who intend to do so again.

The president's swipe is the latest in a row over immigration policy between Trump and Democratic leaders in his home state of New York over immigration policy.

US Attorney General William Barr announced a new slew of sanctions against sanctuary cities, in what he called a 'significant escalation' against obstruction of US immigration laws.