Viral X

BOOKIES have reported ‘odds crashing’ on several Willie Mullins runners at the Grand National Festival – as he gears up for a monster fight with old foe Nicky Henderson.

BoyleSports say their customers are backing the Irish genius to get the better of Hendo in their Aintree showdowns.

PA

Nicky Henderson with Constitution Hill – one of his odds-on chances he hopes will smash Willie Mullins’ top prospects at Cheltenham[/caption]

And it looks like Lossiemouth – who swerved the calamitous Champion Hurdle to win the Mares’ Hurdle at Cheltenham – is attracting the most support of the lot.

Hendo’s previously unbeaten Constitution Hill is out to make amends for his shocking Champion Hurdle fall.

Michael Buckley’s awesome jumper won the 2m4f Aintree Hurdle in 2023 but it was probably his most underwhelming performance to date.

While Lossiemouth, despite being trained as a 2m Grade 1 horse all season, looks naturally at home over two-and-a-half.

Constitution Hill put her in her place when they met at Christmas – but punters fancy a reverse this time round.

Lossiemouth has been backed into 13-8 from 15-8 while Con Hill remains the 8-11 fav.

And it appears the same can be said for El Fabiolo in his match against Jonbon.

Henderson’s top 2m chaser saw his Cheltenham hoodoo strike again in the Champion Chase, where he was walloped 18 lengths by Marine Nationale.

Jonbon was rated 171 for that race but had the lowly 160-rated Captain Guinness just a length-and-a-quarter behind him.

He’ll need to up his game to get the better of an admittedly out of sorts El Fabiolo, who beat Jonbon in the 2023 Arkle before losing to him in the 2024 Celebration Chase at Sandown.

BoyleSports said 13-2 odds of El Fabiolo ‘crashed’ into 11-4 after just four runners were declared for Friday’s Grade 1 Melling Chase.

While Jonbon remains at the head of the market at 8-13.

Brian O’Keeffe, spokesperson for BoyleSports, said: “Redemption may await for Nicky Henderson and his stable stars at Aintree, but the market is once again trending in favour of Willie Mullins and Lossiemouth is leading the charge for the Closutton maestro.”

Mullins has also seen a huge gamble build on I Am Maximus, who will defend his Grand National crown on Saturday.

William Hill make him their new favourite for the £1million race at 8-1.

Elsewhere, the Closutton boss’ Impaire Et Passe is coming in for support in Thursday’s Manifesto Novices’ Chase, where he will take on Hendo’s Arkle winner and current 5-2 fav Jango Baie.

Martin Pipe buzz horse Kopeck De Mee disappointed but he is being turned out quickly again and is being backed for Friday’s William Hill Handicap Hurdle, where his odds of 7-1 could tighten up some more.

FREE BETS – GET THE BEST SIGN UP DEALS AND RACING OFFERS

Commercial content notice: Taking one of the offers featured in this article may result in a payment to The Sun. You should be aware brands pay fees to appear in the highest placements on the page. 18+. T&Cs apply. gambleaware.org.

---

Remember to gamble responsibly

A responsible gambler is someone who:

• Establishes time and monetary limits before playing
• Only gambles with money they can afford to lose
• Never chases their losses
• Doesn’t gamble if they’re upset, angry or depressed
• Gamcare – www.gamcare.org.uk
• Gamble Aware – www.gambleaware.org

Find our detailed guide on responsible gambling practices here.

[/boxout]

CORONATION Street regularly makes headlines for its thrilling storylines.

However, the soap won’t be airing on April 2, 2025, as the TV slot has been given away. So what will be airing in Corrie’s place?

Alamy

Dan Charity

Why has Corrie been cancelled on April 2, 2025?

ITV have given away Corrie’s usual Friday evening time slot to their sports coverage.

Instead, the UEFA Women’s Nation League will be broadcasted live.

The England team will be playing Belgium at 8pm in Bristol.

This is not the first time that Corrie has been booted from its scheduled slot in 2025.

Fans have raged at ITV’s continued prioritisation of sports in their schedule, with Corrie being replaced by both the FA cup and the Women’s UEFA.

Is there a replacement episode of Corrie?

ITV often airs a replacement episode of Corrie when it is replaced by another programme.

Fans can watch an hour-long episode of the Mancunian soap on Thursday ahead of April 4.

The show normally airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays

2024 and 2025 has seen Corrie rocked by significant changes, including the departure of Helen Worth’s iconic Gail Platt.

Fan favourite Eileen Grimshaw, played by Sue Cleaver, will also be leaving the beloved soap.

Further changes have been announced, including the reduction of ITV’s soap schedule.

The broadcaster will reduce its soap schedule by an hour by 2026 in a bid to cut costs.

Fans can keep up with the soap on ITVX where all recent episodes of the show are available to stream.

The Lionesses’ incredible journey

The Lionesses’ game, which will replace Corrie on ITV’s broadcasting schedule, will be a tense match.

They previously won the Euros in 2022, setting an extremely high bar for themselves.

Fans are now eagerly anticipating how they will perform at they will perform at the World Cup.

The men’s team have not won the World Cup since 1966 and the women’s team narrowly missed out on winning in 2023.

Plans are already being drawn up to keep pubs open later, if the women’s team make the Euro semi-finals.

Each member of the Lioness squad has become a star in her own right.

Leah Williamson has worked with designer brands including Gucci and Nike, where Chloe Kelly has partnered with Calvin Klein.

Women’s Football has entered into a new era, where it is finally being considered to be on a par with the men’s game.

However, Sarina Wiegmann has previously warned against comparing men and women in football.

She told Jake Humphreys on the High Performance podcast: “We should not compare women’s football with men’s football.

“In other sports we don’t do that and it’s remarkable that we always do that in football.

“I think that has to do with history, too. It’s similar in England and in the Netherlands that it was seen as a male sport rather than a female one.

“But now that’s changed and it’s cool for women and girls to play football. 

“I’ve heard so many stories also of not only young girls, but after the Euros, adult women who’ve returned to playing football again, or started playing and that’s really nice.

“So yes, please stop comparing women who play football and men who play football.”

[/boxout]

Solo Leveling is a fast-paced series, but there are a few highlights that stand out in the entire series. Beru’s resurrection was one of Solo Leveling’s most anticipated moments. The Jeju Island arc itself was highly anticipated; it was a stage for Sung Jinwoo to establish himself as one of the most powerful Hunters in […]

This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire

The heat is rising, and that’s the only way it should be, as Fire Force Season 3 gears up for its upcoming release. The second season of the anime aired in 2020. Since then, fans have been eagerly waiting for the next and final installment of the series. The wait is over as the final […]

This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire

On Tuesday, April 1, 2025, legendary actor Val Kilmer, best known for Batman Forever and Top Gun, died at 65 years old. His daughter, Mercedes, revealed pneumonia to be the cause of death to The New York Times. The actor passed away in his Los Angeles home. He has a long history of battling throat […]

The post Val Kilmer dies; Batman Forever, Top Gun star was 65 appeared first on ClutchPoints.

JAMES May has issued a brutal response to working with Jeremy Clarkson and Richard Hammond again.

Last year, the former Top Gear trio broke off their working relationship after over two decades together.

PA

James May has opened up on the potential of reuniting with his former Top Gear colleagues[/caption]

Getty

Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond launched The Grand Tour in 2016 following their departure from the BBC[/caption]

PA

After 22 years of presenting shows together, the trio bid farewell to their grouping with their last hurrah in 2024[/caption]

Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond started working together on the famous BBC One show in 2002.

After controversially leaving the corporation, they launched a new show called The Grand Tour on Amazon Prime in 2016.

However, the show came to an end in September last year as the trio bid farewell to doing programmes together after 22 years.

Now, after rumours that they could do more projects, James May has spoken out about the prospect of getting the band back once again.

However, it’s not necessarily the good news that fans may have been hoping for, especially with his utterly savage response.

Apart from a set of upcoming specials of the Amazon Prime motoring show, it seems James is done for good after working “over a third of [his] life working with those two idiots.”

He told ABC News Breakfast: “Yes we have disbanded. There isn’t going to be a reunion.

“We’re not like Led Zeppelin or anything like that. In many ways, we’re not like Led Zeppelin.”

Led Zeppelin have reunited on a number of occasions after they first ‘ended’ in 1980.

They last conducted a concert together in 2007, which was 27 years after the group disbanded following the death of John Bonham.

However, James May did admit that the end of the long-running partnership was ’emotional’, as they had been working together for so long.

“Well it was emotional I supposed, I’ve been in that job longer than I’ve been in any other job by a long, long way,” he remarked.

“I also think that it was time to stop because we always said we would land it with dignity not fly it into the cliffs.”

However, the TV presenter said that it was the ‘right time’ for the famous trio to part ways as they embark on other projects.

As well as his column for The Sun, Jeremy Clarkson is now the main face of his global smash hit documentary reality series Clarkson’s Farm.

James also thinks that it should be up to emerging talent to think of new ways to bring the genre of motoring programmes to life.

The star admitted: “It was probably the right time to stop. We are getting on a bit, our view of the subject is probably becoming a bit dated.

“It’s time for a younger generation to re-evaluate it and think of a new way of talking about things like cars.”

AP:Associated Press

Fans have since speculated that the trio will reunite annually[/caption]

Amazon Prime

However, it seems that James May has confirmed that it is not the case[/caption]

PA

The star also issued a savage response to rumours saying that he’s worked over a third of his life with ‘these idiots’[/caption]

Amazon Prime

He also called out for new talent to explore the motoring genre[/caption]

LABOUR’S hefty employer National Insurance hike is coming in days – we explain what it means for you.

From April 6, businesses will have to pay a higher rate of employer National Insurance contributions (NICs) of 15% from 13.8%.

The threshold at which they are paid is also being lowered from £9,100 to £5,000.

The Government confirmed it was making the changes in its Autumn Budget last October in a bid to increase revenue.

It also said the move meant it wasn’t increasing taxes for working people.

However, it will have an impact on shoppers and everyday consumers as businesses look to pass on the additional costs.

Here is how you could be affected.

Store prices

A host of retailers and chains have warned they will have to hike prices on goods to cover the cost of the increase in NICs.

In a recent survey of chief financial officers at 52 leading retailers carried out by the British Retail Consortium (BRC), two thirds said they will have to raise prices.

The BRC, which represents UK retailers, also said it expects to see food prices rise by 4.2% later this year due to the NIC increase.

In January, boss of M&S Stuart Machin said the retailer wanted to pass costs on “as little as possible” but had been forced to tweak its business plan for the coming years.

He added any price rises would be “small and behind the market” but did not say how much exactly they would go up by.

Next has also said it will need to push through an “unwelcome” 1% rise in prices and launch self-service tills to drive down staffing costs.

Halfords has warned it may be forced to push up prices too, as well as Asda, Primark and Sainsbury’s.

Price of a pint

A number of pub bosses have cautioned of price rises as they brace for the rise in NICs.

It comes as the hospitality sector also faces temporary business rate relief being reduced from 75% to 40% this month.

Boss of Wetherspoons Tim Martin last month warned of price rises as it faces £60million in extra costs due to rising NICs and wages.

All Bar One owner Mitchells and Butlers (M&B) has said the price of a pint would rise by up to 15p.

Chief executive of Fullers, Simon Emeny, also exclusively told The Sun the price of beers at its hotels and boozers would likely rise by 10p.

Marston’s has already increased the price of draught beer across its pub estate with drinkers facing an extra 10p more a pint at the bar.

Store closures

Thousands of shops have already closed across the UK in the last 12 months, but more could be coming due to the employer NIC rise.

The Centre for Retail Research said more than 13,000 high street stores were shuttered for good in 2024.

But it said this figure will rise to about 17,350 in 2025 due to the hike to NICs and the rising national minimum wage.

Fashion retailer New Look has said it could close almost 100 shops following the Government’s tax raid.

Small shoe chain A. G. Meek is closing one of its stores this month with its boss saying it was due to the NIC hike, a reduction in business rate relief and lower footfall.

Historic department store Beales, in Bournemouth, is also ceasing trading in May with boss Tony Brown telling The Telegraph the business had become “unviable” due to the extra costs associated with the Government’s Autumn Budget.

Pension pots, wages and jobs

Economists have warned the employer NIC hike will ultimately be felt by workers in the shape of reduced wage rises.

Not only will the reduced salary rises impact employees in the immediate term, but in the long term as well.

This is because it will see workers with less money to add to their pension pots.

It might also discourage employers from raising how much they contribute to their employees’ workplace pensions in the future.

Businesses may also end up laying off staff or taking less workers on in a bid to shore up their finances.

Do you have a money problem that needs sorting? Get in touch by emailing money-sm@news.co.uk.

Plus, you can join our Sun Money Chats and Tips Facebook group to share your tips and stories