Bookmakers believe the Grand National will be scrapped because of the current coronavirus outbreak.
The biggest horse race in the world is set to be held on Saturday, April 4.
But bookies say there is a 60 per cent chance the event in Aintree won't happen, reports BirminghamLive.
OddsMonkey spokesman Peter Watton s aid: “The Grand National is in doubt because of the Coronavirus and Bookmakers do not see it going ahead.
“More than a quarter of a million is bet on the Grand National – the most of any one race so whilst we all have our fingers crossed it looks like we may have to wait for the big one.
“And we can’t forget the Tiger Roll factor – he could make history this year as he looks for the three-peat. Not even the great Red Rum achieved that and it would be a huge shame if we missed out on that.”
But the organisers of the annual festival say no decision has yet been made.
The Cheltenham Festival will go ahead as planned.
A Grand National spokesman said: "The global spread of the coronavirus continues to threaten any and all major sporting events and Aintree is one of them."
According to the Grand National website: "The UK Government has released an action plan which states that although public gatherings – such as sporting events – could be restricted for up to 12 weeks, there are no ‘immediate plans’ to introduce this at the current time.
"Any immediate change in that status would potentially have an impact on Aintree in April.
"Westminster’s action plan confirms: “Action that would be considered could include: population distancing strategies (such as school closures, encouraging greater home working, reducing the number of large scale gatherings) to slow the spread of the disease throughout the population, whilst ensuring the country’s ability to continue to run as normally as possible.”
"Officials at Aintree will be keeping a very close eye on developments, just as those at Cheltenham have been forced to do recently."
