Grand National sweepstake

One race, about nine minutes, and a whole office with a horse.

A Grand National sweepstake is the easiest competition in the building to run and the easiest to get wrong. Get the declared field, draw once with everyone watching, print the sheet, and write the non-runner rule down before anyone sees a name. The free generator does the draw and the sheet.

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The kit

Everything a Grand National sweepstake needs, in the order you need it.

Four things, and none of them is software you have to install. The generator runs in your browser, so the names and runners you type are never uploaded.

The field.

One horse per line, pasted in once the runners are declared. The Grand National field is capped at 34, so the list is short enough to read aloud.

The names.

Everyone taking part, one per line. Close entries before the draw. Nobody gets added afterwards, which is the rule that stops the argument.

The draw.

One click, on the big screen, with the room watching. Draw once and stick to it. A redraw because someone dislikes their horse is how a sweepstake loses the office.

The sheet.

Press Print sheet for a clean A4 page: the field, who drew what, any reserves, a blank column to write the result in and a space for your logo. Or copy the list as text and drop it in the group chat.

The Grand National, as a sweepstake sees it.

The field
A maximum of 34 runners, cut from 40 ahead of the 2024 race. A mid-sized office can hand out one horse each.
The course
30 fences over two circuits of Aintree. Long enough that the draw feels live for the whole race.
The race
One afternoon in April, settled in about nine minutes. Nobody is eliminated early and nobody needs to know a thing about racing.
When to draw
In the days after the field is declared, close to the race. Draw earlier and you are managing withdrawals instead of enjoying the draw.
More people than horses
The extra names go on a reserve list, in the order they came out of the draw.
More horses than people
Some people hold two. The draw is dealt evenly, so nobody holds a second horse until everyone holds a first.
Other race days
The Cheltenham Gold Cup in March and any other race with a list of runners use the same draw. Choose Custom event and paste in the field.

How to run it in about five minutes.

  1. Collect the names before the field is known.

    Ask in the team chat or leave a sheet by the kettle. Entries close on a stated day. You do not need the horses yet, and you can draw on numbers alone if the field is not declared when entries close.

  2. Paste in the declared field and draw.

    Once the runners are confirmed, paste them in, paste the names in and draw once, in the room. Every arrangement is equally likely, so there is nothing to defend if someone is unhappy with their horse.

  3. Print the sheet and pin it up.

    The A4 sheet goes on the kitchen wall with a column to write the result in. Reserves are listed in draw order, so nobody argues about who is next.

  4. Settle the prizes from the sheet.

    Most offices reward the first three home, and plenty add a prize for the horse that finishes last. Write the prizes on the sheet before the draw and tell everyone up front.

The three rules that decide whether it stays friendly.

A sweepstake has no scoring, which is exactly why the arguments are all about edge cases. Agree these before the draw, because the holder of a withdrawn horse will have a view afterwards.

What happens to a non-runner.

A non-runner is a horse withdrawn before the race. The simplest rule is no replacement: the holder sits the race out. The alternative is that the first name on the reserve list takes any runner that joins the field after the draw. Both are fair. Choosing after a horse is withdrawn is the version that causes trouble.

Who gets a prize.

First, second and third home is the usual spread. A prize for last is a good way to keep the room paying attention to the back of the field. Decide the list, write it on the sheet and do not add to it once the race has started.

What happens to a horse that does not finish.

Plenty of runners fall, are brought down or pull up. Say in advance whether a horse that does not finish is simply out, or whether the prize for last goes to the last horse to complete the course. Either works, provided it is written down.

Draw it, then keep the room playing.

The free sweepstake generator

The draw, the reserve list and the printable A4 sheet. Built for the Grand National and just as happy with a World Cup or a Rugby World Cup. Free, and the names never leave your browser.

Football sweepstakes and what to run beside them

A sweepstake is pure chance from the moment the draw closes, so most of the room has nothing left to do once their horse is out. Here is what to run next to a draw so people have a reason to come back.

Knockout brackets

For tournaments, a bracket keeps everyone involved to the final instead of emptying the room by the quarter-finals. A shipped Fanzava format, scored round by round.

What Fanzava does here, said plainly.

The draw is free, and it stays free.

The generator needs no account and no card. Fanzava does not carry the runners, the form or the result of the race, and it does not run horse racing competitions. It draws the names and prints the sheet, and that is the job.

What the rest of the year looks like.

The people who join a Grand National sweepstake are the ones who ignore everything else you run. The same people will make weekly picks if the competition is under your own logo, on your own colours, in a phone browser with nothing to install. That is what a branded Fanzava hub is for.

Your brand, all the way through.

Paid plans ship full white-label across every screen, every email and every notification. Pro and above add a custom domain and a custom email sender, so the competition lives at your address and reads as yours.

Questions Grand National sweepstake organisers ask.

How do I run a Grand National sweepstake?
Collect the names and close entries, wait for the declared field, paste both lists into the generator and draw once with everyone watching. Print the A4 sheet or copy the list into your group chat. Decide the non-runner rule and the prizes before the draw. The whole job takes about five minutes.
When should I do the draw?
Close to the race, after the field is declared. The Grand National field is capped at 34 runners and is confirmed in the days before the race, so a late draw means fewer withdrawals to manage. If you must draw earlier, use numbers only, or choose the reserve rule and keep a reserve list.
What if there are more people than horses?
The extra names go on a reserve list, in the order they came out of the draw. If a runner joins the field after the draw, the first name on the list takes it. The printed sheet lists reserves in draw order, so nobody argues about who is next.
What if a horse is withdrawn after the draw?
Whatever your rule says, which is why it needs to say something before the draw. The two common choices are no replacement, so the holder sits the race out, or the first reserve steps in. Deciding after the withdrawal is the only version that causes a problem.
Can I print the sweepstake sheet?
Yes. Draw first, then press Print sheet. The page prints as a clean A4 portrait sheet with the field, who drew what, any reserves, a blank column for the result and a space for your logo. There is also a Copy as text button for the group chat.
Can I use it for the Cheltenham Gold Cup or another race?
Yes. Choose Custom event, paste in the runners, add the names and draw. It works for the Gold Cup, any other race with a list of runners, a World Cup or an office draw for anything else.
Is the draw really random?
Yes. It uses your browser's cryptographic random number generator with a Fisher-Yates shuffle, so every arrangement is equally likely. Draw again and you get a completely different result, so draw once and stick to it.

Keep reading

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