Weight Worries
In the last 10 years just three winners carried more than 11st. None carried top weight.
The 2023 Grand National will be held at Aintree Racecourse on Saturday, April 15th at 5.15pm. The Randox Health sponsored race is a steeplechase run over 4 miles 514 yards with 30 jumps over two circuits of the course.
The prize fund for the Grand National is £1,000,000 which makes it the most valuable jump race in Europe. 600 million people will watch the race in over 140 countries with more than 70,000 in attendance at Aintree on the day.
40 horses and their jockeys will line-up in what is the ultimate test in British horse racing. The Grand National course has much larger fences than normal. The Chair, Valentine’s Brook, Foinavon, Becher’s Brook and the Canal Turn are just some of the famous fences that runners and rider need to navigate in the race.
Which horse will you be cheering on? Check out our full guide to all the Grand National 2023 runners – Click Here
Won the Ultima Handicap Chase at Cheltenham in March 2022, a career best. He’ll need to continue to improve, but if he does he could be a real force to be reckoned with in 2023.
NO: 41 | FORM: 4U1-54 | AGE: 9 | WEIGHT: 10-05 | JOCKEY: UNKNOWN | TRAINER: L. Russell
Noble Yeats ripped up the form book when he became the first seven-year-old to win the Grand National since Bogskar in 1940.
Ridden by amateur jockey Sam Waley-Cohen, he was a rank outsider going into the race, with odds of 50/1. But he proved his doubters wrong with a gutsy performance. It was an emotional moment for Waley-Cohen, who was riding his last race before retiring.
NO: 4 | FORM: 1-P113 | AGE: 8 | WEIGHT: 11-11 | JOCKEY: UNKNOWN | TRAINER: E. Mullins
There are few things more frustrating for a horse racing fan than watching a horse who always seems to run out steam at the end of a race. Gaillard du Mesnil finished in third place five times from five starts over the big fences. But then he came good at Cheltenham, and finally realised all that promise!
NO: 19 | FORM: 33-213 | AGE: 7 | WEIGHT: 11-00 | JOCKEY: UNKNOWN | TRAINER: W. Mullins
Moved to Willie Mullins in November and was unlucky to be brought down in his first run for the yard. Redeemed himself at Warwick with a second place finish over 3m5f, but refusing to run and pulling up last season still leave question marks.
NO: 44 | FORM: 2RP-B2 | AGE: 7 | WEIGHT: 10-04 | JOCKEY: UNKNOWN | TRAINER: W. Mullins
A highly rated chaser from Gordon Elliott, Conflated has just won the Savills Chase at Leopardstown and has sights on both the Ryanair Chase and Gold Cup in the upcoming Cheltenham Festival.
NO: 3 | FORM: 1F2-31 | AGE: 9 | WEIGHT: 11-12 | JOCKEY: UNKNOWN | TRAINER: G. Elliott
After a third-place finish in the 2021 and a second-place finish in the 2022 Grand National, many are wondering if this is finally his year to take first.
NO: 2 | FORM: 612-24 | AGE: 11 | WEIGHT: 11-12 | JOCKEY: UNKNOWN | TRAINER: T. Walsh
Delta Work produced a stunning performance to win the Glenfarclas Chase at Cheltenham in 2022 when he edged out Tiger Roll.
He went to Aintree as a 10/1 shot for the National, but was bested on the day, finishing third. However, he showed that he has the stamina to be a leading player in the race and it would be no surprise to see him back for another crack in 2023.
NO: 11 | FORM: 613-13 | AGE: 10 | WEIGHT: 11-04 | JOCKEY: UNKNOWN | TRAINER: G. Elliott
Fourth in the Gold Cup last year, he’s had mixed form this season, winning a Grade 3 at Punchestown but languished towards the rear in both of his Grade 1 starts. Also likely to get a very big weight which won’t help his chances.
NO: 5 | FORM: 4-6146 | AGE: 9 | WEIGHT: 11-11 | JOCKEY: UNKNOWN | TRAINER: G. Elliott
Longhouse Poet had a great showing in the most recent Grand National, coming in at 6th place. With another year of experience under his belt, this horse could very well be a top contender.
NO: 18 | FORM: 76-P16 | AGE: 9 | WEIGHT: 11-00 | JOCKEY: UNKNOWN | TRAINER: M. Brassil
Has started the season really well winning first at Bangor and then again in the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury. With both races at 3 miles or further, this young horse is shaping up to be quite the chaser.
NO: 23 | FORM: 2114-11 | AGE: 8 | WEIGHT: 10-11 | JOCKEY: UNKNOWN | TRAINER: D. Skelton
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We give each horse a rating based on how closely it matches the trends and statistics of past Grand National winners.
Unlikely to mount a serious challenge.
Could place with a slice of luck.
A strong eachway chance and could even win it.
Ante post odds listed on this page are taken from Paddy Power on 20/03/2023. Check the odds with your Bookmaker before placing a bet as fluctuations can occur. Full Terms and Conditions for the promotional bet offers can be found on the respective websites – please read them before signing up.
Bookmakers across the UK anticipate that over £250m in bets will be staked on the 2023 Grand National from millions of customers. Only a few of those placing bets will manage to back the winner on the day. Will you be one of them?
Some people will take a punt on a tip from a friend. Others will pick a runner based on the colour of silks worn by the jockey. While more will lump on a horse for no other reason than they like the name of the horse. In fact when Rule The World won in 2016 a significant amount of people who had backed it did so because it was their favourite Take That song!
Being more strategic about your choice of a horse only involves a little extra work. Read the racing news and study the trends and statistics that have emerged over the last ten years and try to determine patterns that will help whittle down your selections.
Only three winners carried more than 11-01 in the past ten years and they were Tiger Roll in 2019 (11-05), Many Clouds in 2015 (11-09) and Neptune Colognes in 2012 (11-06).
Six of the last ten winners were 8 or 9 years old. Noble Yeats in 2022 at 7-years old, Pineau De Re in 2014, Auroras Encore in 2013 and and Neptune Collonges in 2012 broke that trend as they were all eleven years old.
Only one winner went off as the favourite from the last ten Grand Nationals. That was Tiger Roll in 2019 (4/1). It can be argued that racing fans actually backed jockey AP McCoy, more so than the horse! Mon Mome won on 100/1 but he was first since 1967 to do that. In fact the average odds of a winning Grand National horse are around 20/1.
Seven winners had at least four seasonal runs before going on to win the Aintree spectacular. The only three who had less were Minella Times in 2021, One For Arthur in 2017 and Tiger Roll in 2019. They had all run three times.
Nine winners had either won or placed in a race at least 3m or longer in the season they won the Grand National. Only one, Auroras Encore had not won or placed on the run-up to the 2013 National.
None of the last 10 winners unseated their jockey in the season they won the Grand National.
Eight of the last ten winners had not fallen in the season they won the Grand National.
Ideally what you’re looking for is a Grand National 2023 Runner that is carrying 11-00 or less, who is 8 or 9 (2014 was the last time a horse older than that won the National).
Generally, when online betting, avoid the favourites and look for those who are priced between 14/1 and 33/1 and who have at least three seasonal runs, with extra consideration for those who have won or placed at 3 miles or more. Tiger Roll was the exception, not the rule.
Or simply tear up the stats and pick a runner because you like its name!
There are sixteen individual fences that need to be jumped in the 2023 Grand National, 14 of them twice as the race is run over two laps of the famous Aintree course.
Becher’s Brook is 5 feet high with the landing side between 6 inches and 10 inches lower than the takeoff side and is named after Captain Martin Becher who fell there in the first Grand National and took shelter in the small brook running along the landing side of the fence while the remainder of the field thundered over.
Foinavon is 4 feet 6 inches and is one of the smallest fences on the course. It was named in 1984 after the 1967 winner who avoided a mêlée at the fence to go on and win the race at outside odds of 100/1.
The Canal Turn is 5 ft high and is known for it’s difficult 90-degree left turn immediately after landing. Jockey Richard Pitman said of this fence “you can win or lose a Grand National at the Canal Turn, because any length you can gain in the air is more economical than having to gallop it.”
Valentine’s is 5 feet high with a 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m) brook and was named after a horse called Valentine who was reputed to have jumped the fence hind legs first in 1840.
A famous part of the course located between fences 12 and 13 when the runners cross it near to the Anchor Bridge, a popular vantage point since the earliest days of the race.
One of the most difficult fences on the course, The Chair is 5 feet 2 inches high but is preceded by a 6 ft wide ditch and Grand National Runners only jump this once, on the first lap. The fence was originally the location where a distance judge sat in the earliest days of the race. The practise was done away with but the monument where the chair stood is still there.
The Water Jump is 2 feet 6 inches and is the second fence that runners only jump once during the race. The Water Jump was one of the most popular jumps on the course but over the years, The Chair has overshadowed it in popularity.
Once all the fences have been jumped the runners and riders head for the home straight which is one of the longest in the United Kingdom at 494 yards and one that many potential winners have had victory snatched away!