Spotlight on the Contenders: 2023 Welsh National Preview
The buzz around the Welsh National has started to ramp up so just which of the runners looks like a real contender to win the race in 2023?
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GRAND NATIONAL
RUNNERS & ODDS
Race Day Ready: Spotlight on the Grand National Runners
GRAND NATIONAL
BETTING OFFERS
Unmissable Promotions from leading Bookmakers
GRAND NATIONAL
TIPS
Jump Ahead of the Pack: Expert Tips for the Grand National
GET READY FOR THE 2024 GRAND NATIONAL
Mark your calendars! The 2024 Grand National is set for Saturday, April 13th, at 5:15 pm. Taking place at Aintree Racecourse and sponsored by Randox Health, this historic race spans 4 miles and 514 yards. The course is punctuated by 30 thrilling jumps that both horse and jockey must expertly navigate.
It's Europe's most lucrative jumps race, with a prize pool of £1 million. Join a global audience of 600 million from 140 countries and a crowd of over 70,000 spectators at Aintree to witness this spectacle.
The stakes are high as 34 of the finest horses and jockeys gear up for what's often called the ultimate challenge in British horse racing. The brave horses and jockeys will have to face and overcome legendary fences like The Chair, Canal Turn, and Becher’s Brook in their quest for Aintree glory.
Which horse will you be cheering? Check our guide to all the Grand National 2024 runners – Click Here
Aintree Countdown
GRAND NATIONAL 2024
13th April 5:15pm
The 2024 Grand National will be held at Aintree Racecourse on Saturday, April 13th at 5.15pm. The Randox Health sponsored race is run over 4 miles 514 yards with 30 jumps over two circuits of the course.
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GRAND NATIONAL 2024 RUNNERS
Below you can view the top ten Grand National Runners with their ante-post odds.
Antepost odds listed on this page are taken from Betfred on 19/10/2023. No horse is guaranteed a position in the race until the final declaration stage (11/04/2024). Check the odds with your Bookmaker before placing a bet, as fluctuations occur. Full Terms and Conditions for the promotional bet offers can be found on the respective websites – read them before you sign up.
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RACE NEWS & UPDATES
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TRENDS FOR PICKING A WINNER
Follow the trends and statistics to narrow down the Grand National 2024 field.
Bookmakers across the UK anticipate that over £250m in bets will be staked on the 2024 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 the 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 two winners carried more than 10-13 in the past ten Grand Nationals, and they were Tiger Roll in 2019 (11-05) and Many Clouds in 2015 (11-09).
Seven of the last ten winners were 8 or 9 years old. Noble Yeats in 2022 at 7-years old, Pineau De Re in 2014, and Auroras Encore in 2013 broke that trend as they were both eleven years old.
Only two winners went off as the favourite from the last ten Grand Nationals. They were Corach Rambler in 2023 (8/1) and Tiger Roll in 2019 (4/1).
It can be argued that racing fans actually backed jockey AP McCoy, more so than Don’t Push It when they won in 2010 as favourites. Mon Mome won on 100/1, but he was the first since 1967 to do that. In fact, the average odds of a winning Grand National horse are around 20/1.
Six of the last ten winners had at least four seasonal runs before going on to win the Aintree spectacular. The only four who had fewer were Corach Rambler in 2023, Minella Times in 2021, One For Arthur in 2017 and Tiger Roll in 2019. They had all run three times.
Nine of the last ten 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 2024 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 priced between 14/1 and 33/1 and with at least three seasonal runs, with extra consideration for those who have won or placed at 3 miles or more.
Or tear up the stats and pick a runner because you like its name!
WEIGHT WORRIES
In the last 10 years just two winners carried more than 10st 13lbs. None carried top weight.
FAVOURITISM
Only 5 pre-race favourites have won the National since 1999. They were Corach Rambler (2023), Tiger Roll (2019), Don’t Push It (2010), Comply Or Die (2008) and Hedgehunter (2005). The shortest price was 4/1 on Tiger Roll.
KEEP ON RUNNING
Since 2010, seven winners had at least 4 seasonal runs before going on to win the Grand National.
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AINTREE GRAND NATIONAL FENCES
The most famous fences of the Grand National
Sixteen individual fences need to be jumped in the 2024 Grand National, 14 of them twice, as the race is run over two laps of the famous Aintree course.
Fence 6 & 22 – Becher’s Brook
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.
Fence 7 & 23 – Foinavon
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.
Fence 8 & 24 – Canal Turn
The Canal Turn is 5 ft high and is known for its 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.”
Fence 9 & 25 – Valentine’s
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.
Between Fences 12 & 13 – Melling Road
A famous part of the course is located between fences 12 and 13 when the runners cross it near the Anchor Bridge, a popular vantage point since the earliest days of the race.
Fence 15 – The Chair
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 practice was done away with, but the monument where the chair stood is still there.
Fence 16 – Water Jump
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!
BECHER’S BROOK
After falling into the Brook on the first running of the Grand National Jockey Captain Becher remarked: “He hadn’t realised how filthy water tasted without the benefits of whisky.”
CANAL TURN
In 1928 Easter Hero refused at the Canal Turn and took out 20 horses, leaving just two horses to complete the race.
OVER THE FIRST
Historically fence 1 accounted for more fallers than Becher’s Brook. Modifications were made in 2012 and 2024 to make the fence safer for horse and jockey.
