April 2022 Sports Preview : Fury at Wembley this Month

Last Updated : 31st March, 2022 By Steve A

April is one of those months that sports lovers are going to absolutely adore. Our April preview looks ahead to everything from the Grand National to the Masters. Then there's Tyson Fury defending his world heavyweight title against Dillian Whyte and the first two Classics of the horse racing season. What a month and plenty of opportunities to be using your free bets.

Will You Pick the Grand National Winner Any Second Now?

The 2022 Grand National takes place at Aintree on Saturday April 9. There won't be an attempt by Tiger Roll to win a third Grand National. The two-time winner was withdrawn because of the weight allocated and retired after a second place finish at Cheltenham. 

It was Delta Work who beat Tiger Roll in the Cross Country Chase and now bids to follow up by winning the Grand National. The nine-year-old is a Grade 1 winner but has never been in a race over three miles and six furlongs. 

The favourite to win this race at the time of writing is Any Second Now. Trained by Ted Walsh, the ten-year-old won last time out at Fairyhouse, winning a Grade 3 chase. We do know that Any Time Now will see out the distance. Last year, this runner was third in the Grand National but had problems in running. After being badly hampered during the race, better luck in running might just see a success in 2022.

Also to be considered is Enjoy D'Allen who may show improved form over this distance. Escaria Tan was only a nose behind Any Time Now last time out and could well put in a strong performance in this race.

Back Rahm to win the Masters

From April 7-10, the Masters takes place at Augusta, Georgia. This is never a title that is easy to defend with that last happening in 2002 when Tiger Woods (who may or may not be playing this year) won for a second successive year. Hideki Matsuyama was the 2021 winner and ended March as the world number 12. He won the Sony Open this year so a bold defence of his title is on the cards.

Scottie Scheffler hadn't even won a PGA title at the beginning of 2022 and was 12th in the rankings. He broke his duck with victory in the Phoenix Open on February 13 and won the Arnold Palmer Invitiational three weeks later. Just 42 days after his first PGA title, Scheffler became the world number one after winning the World Matchplay Championship. Although he has never finished higher than 18th in the Masters, Scheffler has finished in the top ten in the last three Majors. He has to be on any shortlist to win this title but can he keep up his great form?

A European golfer last won the Masters five years ago. It was Sergio Garcia who was the champion that year and another Spanish player Jon Rahm could be a contender in 2022. He won the US Open last year and has had four consecutive top ten finishes at Augusta. He certainly has a good chance of winning the 2022 Masters.

Fury to Put Whyte in his place?

For the first time in four years, Tyson Fury is due to fight in the UK. He puts his WBC Heavweight title on the line against the mandatory challenger Dillian Whyte at Wembley Stadium on Saturday April 23.

It's the second defence of the title that Fury won when beating Deontay Wilder. It's the first time since 2019 that Fury has a fight that isn't against Wilder. He's unbeaten now in 32 fights and if winning against his British challenger, he's likely to take on either Oleksandr Usyk or Anthony Joshua in a unfication title bout later this year. 

Whyte has been waiting for ages to get his first shot at the world heavyweight title. It's seven years since he lost his unbeaten record to Joshua. Could they meet again this year with all the belts on the line? Since that loss, only once has Whyte been beaten. That was in 2020 when being knocked out by Alexander Povetkin. He avenged that loss in March of last year and the interim champion (a worthless title) now gets his shot at Fury. 

This is a fascinating fight and there's always the chance Fury might end up on the canvas. Then again, if Povetkin can knock out Whyte, there seems to be no reason why Fury can't do the same and retain his title.

Number 11 for Aiden?

April finishes with the first classic of the year. The 2000 Guineas takes place at Newmarket on Saturday April 30. The current favourite is Native Trail trained by Charlie Appelby. TH The trainer ended last season with success in the St Leger and also had also won his second Epsom Derby earlier in the year.

He has hopes of winning the 2000 Guineas with Native Trail who won the Dewhurst Stakes last year. Native Trail won all four of his races last year and will be difficult to beat at Newmarket.

Other contenders include Corobeus who is also trained by Appelby and is a Group 3 winner. His only defeat was in the Group 2 Juddmonte Royal Lodge Stakes, only losing to Royal Patronage by a neck. Aiden O'Brien has won this race on a record 10 occasions but not since 2019. He runs Luxembourg who has won all three of his races including the Group 1 Futurity Stakes at Doncaster and could well be the one to win this race.