Grand National: Peter Crouch and wife Abbey Clancy reveal their picks

The beauty in picking a horse to win the Grand National is that everybody has a different reason behind their choice.

They may well like the name, have a tenuous link to a relative or simply find it amusing, or they may just pluck for a horse with high odds and hope there's a miracle - and a sizeable pay-out.

Peter Crouch and his model wife Abbey Clancy are no different - and they have revealed their reasons behind their picks for the big one at Aintree in Paddy Power's Cheat Sheet.

Crouch, who played as a striker in his days as a professional footballer for Aston Villa, Liverpool, Tottenham and others, is tempted to trust in history to deliver him a winner.

'I like numbers 9, 14, 15, 16, 25 and 28,' he said. 'They are all shirt numbers I wore in my career!'

Crouch wore No 15 at Burnley, Liverpool and Tottenham,  but donned No 25 during his time with Stoke City.

But Crouch also knows a good horse when he sees one and he is instead plucking for No 17, which he never wore in his playing days.

'The one I'll back to do the business is THE BIG BREAKAWAY.'

Clancy has her own motivations to pick a winner at Aintree and is turning to one of her favourite films - and a signature of her wedding cake.

'MR INCREDIBLE is my pick,' she explains. 'We love the films and had Mr & Mrs Incredible figurines on our wedding cake!

'Seems as good a reason as any when it comes to the National.'

Paddy Power are estimating an absolute frenzy of bets closing in on the race with a peak of 15,000 every single minute in the hour before Saturday's race.

More than 150,000 racegoers will head for Aintree over the Festival and a further 10 million more will tune in to watch the National, a staple of the UK's sporting calendar, on TV and online.

The National alone is estimated to bring in £100m in bets, with £250m staked across the industry over the four days.

Crouch's pick is priced at 25/1 while Clancy's pick is currently coming in at 14/1 on Paddy Power.