The Grand National will take place at Aintree on Saturday, April 14 – here’s everything you need to know.
The first official Grand National race took place in 1839 and was won by Lottery, who was priced at 9/1 prior to the race. Every year around 150,000 people travel to Liverpool to visit Aintree racecourse over the 3 day festival. This year it will take place between April 12th-14th and the majority of visitors will attend on Saturday the 14th in order to watch the Grand National. The number of visitors that attend on the Saturday is usually around 70,000 and the prices for the day vary from £29 to £155, depending on which stand you get tickets for.
Punters across the country are expected to put on a total of over £250 million on this year’s national and it is common for many people who do not understand horse racing to pick the bookies’ favourite. This year’s favourite to win the Grand National is Blaklion who is currently priced at 12/1 on horse racing betting odds. Blaklion has history in the race, having finished 4th in last year’s race, which saw One For Arthur become the second Scottish trained horse to win the race. Blaklion isn’t the only horse to enter this year’s race with history as Cause of Causes, who is currently priced at 20/1 finished in 8th in the 2015 Grand National before then finishing in 2nd place in the 2017 race. The Last Samuri finished in 2nd place behind Rule The World in 2016 but then finished a disappointing 16th in last year’s race and he is currently priced at 16/1 to win the race.
The Grand National is considered to be one of the greatest races in the horse racing calendar and is a huge test for the horses involved. Only one horse has ever managed to win the horse 3 times and that was Red Rum, who won the race in 1973, 1974 and 1977, while also managing to finish 2nd in 1975 and 1976. Following his death in 1995, he was buried by the winning post at Aintree racecourse and had a garden created in his memory at the ground as well as a bronze statue.
For the people that are travelling to Aintree for this year’s event, we have created a guide that will inform you of what you are allowed to wear, the different stands on the course and where you can grab a bite to eat at your day at the races.
Please gamble responsibly (18+ UK) – check age restrictions before participating
