After the thrill of the Cheltenham Festival only a month ago, the Grand National is here to take over the horseracing scene.

Background and history 

The Grand National is the main event of the three-day Grand National Festival held at Aintree, located in Liverpool in the North West of England.  

This year’s edition starts on Thursday 11 April to Saturday 13 April, with the showpiece Grand National race penciled in for a 4pm (GMT) start time on the final day. 

This is set to be the 176th running of the Grand National, a race which has taken place at Aintree Racecourse since the first edition in 1839. This is the longest jump race held in the UK, so is one of the centerpieces of the horse racing calendar year in the region, measuring at four miles, two furlongs and 74 yards. The race will generally take around nine minutes to complete, with the record time held by a horse by the name of Mr Frisk in 1990 at 8 minutes and 47.8 seconds. 

Looking closer at the race itself, there are 30 jumps to contend with for the jockeys, with 16 fences, 14 of which are jumped twice. Different fences on the course have become famous in their own right, one for example being named The Chair, which is the highest of the 16, standing at five foot and two inches. 

There is a handicapping system present at the Grand National, whereby each horse is allocated a weight based on its ability and rating, with the highest rated horses carrying the heaviest weight. This weight is determined by a handicapper who is appointed by the British Horseracing Authority (BHA). 

Changes for 2024 

2024 has several changes to the race. The most obvious one is the number of horses taking part. Instead of the usual 40, there will only be a maximum of 34 racing, this is in an effort to improve the overall safety of the race. In total only 17 horses actually finished the race last year.  

Another of the changes includes the first fence being moved 60 yards closer to the start line, with a standing start to the race to reduce the speed at which the horses go over the first. The race start time of 4pm is also earlier than the usual one of 5:15pm, relating to equine welfare. 

Betting 

In terms of betting, the clear favourite is last year’s Grand National winner Corach Rambler who also finished third at this year’s Gold Cup, Cheltenham Festival’s showpiece race. On the market, there are bookmakers offering the horse at a price of +650. 

The runner up at the Grand National last year was Vanillier and it too could have potential here, given the market seems to have pegged the horse as third favourite generally, at a price of +1100. 

With such a long and challenging racecourse and the number of horses taking part, it can often be difficult to call who is going to win and placing each way bets is definitely recommended, with some bookmakers paying up to 7 places in some instances. 

Conditions of course do play a part here as well when weighing up which horse would best suit the race. As of Friday morning, local time, the course was changed to soft, heavy in places ahead of day two of the festivities, with no significant rain in the forecast for Friday.  

Looking ahead, this iconic race is poised to throw up another classic and maybe a few surprises too.