The 176th running of the Aintree Festival and Randox Grand National is almost upon us.
A total of 51 horses are competing in the main event, including last year’s winner Corach Rambler. Check out our comprehensive guide for runners and cyclists for all the details. The next round of scratches will come this afternoon during the 48-hour declaration phase.
Don’t miss our top tips as you prepare for the Grand National. You can also read more about a horse ridden by its owner, a horse ridden by a trainer’s wife, columnist Charlie Brooks on the cocaine problem in racing, and a Kitty’s Light trainer describing how the horse focused on him after his daughter’s leukemia diagnosis.
When is the Aintree Grand National?
The Grand National is the highlight of Aintree’s three-day Grand National Festival, which runs from 11 April to Saturday 13 April this year.
The main event, the Grand National, will take place on Saturday afternoon.
What time does the 2024 Grand National start?
Runners will set off on Saturday, April 13 at 16.00.
Following the controversial 2023 edition of the race, the start time was moved back to 17.15 in an attempt to increase the likelihood of good ground. The Jockey Club said the new start time was part of its “ongoing focus on the welfare of horses”.
Where is the 2024 Grand National Meeting held?
The race is held at Aintree Racecourse on the outskirts of Liverpool. Since the first edition in 1839 the race has never been run officially anywhere else.
Are Grand National tickets available?
Tickets for each day of the festival are available for sale on the Jockey Club website. Prices for adults start from £45 at The Embankment for Grand National day. Many other enclosures are already sold out. The most expensive accommodation package on sale is £1,225. Parking costs an additional £35 or £60 if you want to park within walking distance of the track.
How many horses run in the Grand National?
The total number of horses in the Grand National for 2024 has been reduced from 40 to 34 in order to improve race safety. The highest number of runners was 66 in 1929. In 1883, there were fewer than 10 horses in the race.
When will the horses be announced?
The final 34 horses are expected to be confirmed this afternoon, 48 hours before the race. As of last year, if a horse is withdrawn after 48 hours of these declarations, that horse will not be replaced.
Initial registrations for the race were due by 6 February, and the BHA released the weights two weeks later, on 20 February (see below). Five-day notices were made on Monday, at which point the field had shrunk. to 51.
Only a certain number of horses meet the criteria to be allowed to enter the Grand National. Among the qualities they must have:
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Have an official rating (OR) of 130 or more (in 2023 horses only need to have a rating of 125)
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Being 7 years old or older,
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Having completed three or more obstacle races,
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You have completed one steeplechase this season,
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Finishing between 1st and 4th in a steeplechase of 2 miles, 7½ furlongs or longer.
What is the race distance?
Traditionally, the Grand National is defined as a 4½-mile race. However, the official distance is four miles, two miles and 74 yards (4m 2f 74y). This distance is measured within two yards of the innermost rail.
The Grand National is the longest jump race held in the United Kingdom.
How long does the Grand National last?
About nine minutes. The course record belonged to Mr. Frisk in 1990 with 8 minutes 47.8 seconds. That day’s jockey, Marcus Armytage, is now Telegraph Sport’s racing correspondent.
How many fences are there at the Grand National?
The race features 16 individual fences, 14 of which are jumped twice. This means 30 jumps in total.
The hedges are made from Sitka spruce or Norway spruce, which were transported from the Lake District to Aintree by a fleet of trucks. All fences take about three weeks to build.
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Fence 1&17 – 4 ft 6 inches high, 2 ft 9 inches wide
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Fence 2&18 – 4 ft 17 inches high, 3 ft 6 inches wide
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Fence 3&19 – Dig a trench
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Fence 4&20 – 5 ft high, 10 ft 6 in wide (including 7 ft trench on takeoff side)
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Fence 5&21 – 5 ft high, 3 ft 6 inches wide
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Fence 6&22Becher’s Brook – 4 ft 10 in high, 7 ft 6 in wide
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Fence 7&23Foinavon – 4 ft 6 in high, 3 ft wide
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Fence 8&24Channel Return – 5 ft high, 7 ft wide
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Fence 9&25Valentine’s Creek – 5 ft high, 7 ft wide
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Fence 10&26 – 5 ft high, 3 ft wide
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Fence 11&27 – 4 ft 10 in high, 9 ft wide (including 6 ft ditch on landing side)
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Fence 12&28 – 5 ft high, 8 ft 6 in wide (including 5 ft 6 in on landing side)
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Fence 13&29 – 4 ft 7 inches high, 3 ft wide
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Fence 14&30 – 4 ft 6 inches high, 3 ft wide
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Fence 15Chair – 5 ft 2 in high, 9 ft wide (including 6 ft trench on takeoff side)
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Fence 16Jumping from Water – 2 ft 6 inches high
The most famous fences of the Grand National
Aintree hedges are no longer as dangerous as they used to be. But these are still the most notorious obstacles in business.
Chair (Fence 15): The chair is the tallest fence on the course and currently stands five feet two inches tall.
Becher Creek (Fences 6 and 22): The sixth and 22nd fence in the race may not be the biggest, but its difficulty comes from the fact that the landing side is 10 inches lower than the takeoff side. It was named after the jockey Captain Martin Becher, who fell at this stage during the first running of the race in 1839 and hid in the stream to avoid injury.
Valentine Creek (Fence 9&25): It took its name from a horse that allegedly jumped backwards in 1840. Most likely, the horse spun in the air, creating the optical illusion of its hind legs landing first.
Foinavon (Fence 7 and 23): One of the smaller fences, it takes its name from the 100/1 shot who avoided a disastrous pile-up here in 1967 and went on to win.
Channel Return (Fence 8 and 24): As the name suggests, horses have to make a sharp left turn after jumping this 1.5 meter obstacle. Another Aintree legend is that horses that refused to return ended up in the Liverpool and Leeds canal.
Grand National prize money
The Grand National’s total prize fund is £1 million. The first ten horses to pass the pole in 2023 were given prize money as follows.
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£516,000
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£211,100
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£105,500
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£52,700
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£26,500
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£13,200
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£6,800
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£3,600
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£2,000
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£1,000
How does the disability system work?
The purpose of the handicapping process is so that less fancied horses can compete with the best chasers. To achieve this, the highest scoring horses are asked to carry extra weight. Exactly how much weight is determined by a handicapper appointed by the British Horseracing Authority.
The minimum a horse (including a jockey) is allowed to carry is 10st 2lb. The heaviest horse in the race will carry 11st 12lb and all other handicap weights will be calculated from this weight according to each horse’s grade. Last year’s winner Corach Rambler was only carrying 10th 5lb.
In 2015, Many Clouds won by carrying 11.9 ounces, the heaviest weight ever carried by a winner in recent history. The last horse to carry the top weight was Red Rum in 1973, when the highest handicap was set 12th.
What are the changes to this year’s Grand National?
Significant changes have been made to the Grand National for 2024. The changes were made after animal rights protesters ambushed the 2023 event, causing a 15-minute delay. But the Jockey Club insists the changes do not come as a direct response to these protests.
The most important changes are as follows:
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The field was reduced from 40 horses to a maximum of 34 horses. Evidence shows a correlation between the size of the arena and the risk of horses falling.
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The first fence was moved forward 60 yards towards the starting line to reduce the speed at which horses could reach it.
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The start will now be a stationary start on the tape instead of the traditional rolling start. This change was also designed to reduce the speed at which horses reached the first hurdle.
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Each horse must have an official score of at least 130 (instead of 125) and will be examined for jumping errors before being allowed entry.
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The height of fence 11 has been reduced by two inches and the drop on the landing side will be reduced.
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Horses will no longer be led to the course by a handler before the race, but instead will be released to canter in front of the stands.
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The match start time was moved from 17.15 to 16.00.
‘Colin has his sights set on national glory after injury
Gary Moore’s yard-bound conditional jockey Caoilin Quinn will get her first taste of the Grand National at mud-loving Nassalam after recovering from a broken collarbone at Taunton six weeks ago.
The 22-year-old is finally returning to racing following the fall at Plumpton that prevented him from riding Nassalam in the Gold Cup friendly.
Quinn, from Downpatrick in Northern Ireland and nicknamed ‘Colin’ by Jamie Moore, may be one of the least experienced and successful jockeys taking part in Saturday’s race – in fact he could still claim 3lbs if he had a normal handicap – but three of his 63 winners are from Surrey, Sussex and I’ve been to long distance ‘Nationals’ like Wales. Moore’s Nassalam shone in the second as he came home almost alone, 34 furlongs from his nearest rival.
There are other things going on for the jockey apart from his relationship with the horse after heavy rain fell again in Liverpool on Monday; The national trail is expected to be described as heavy; Can’t be too wet for Nassalam.
Northern Irish jockeys have a good track record in the race, with Richard Dunwoody (twice), Tony Dobbin and AP McCoy all having success in recent years from a relatively small pool.
Considering the ground conditions, the only possible reason the horse won’t enter the nepotism race is its weight. He took 2lbs more than last year’s winner Corach Rambler, which seems a bit ridiculous.
Don’t miss these latest opportunities betting offers – Explore our list just before the Grand National