Noble Yates, who won two years ago, will carry the most weight. Photo: PA/Stephen Paston
The Aintree Festival begins today ahead of the 176th running of the Randox Grand National this Saturday.
The final field of 34 horses has been announced, including last year's winner Corach Rambler. Find out more in our comprehensive guide for runners and racers.
As you prepare for the Grand National, don't miss our top tips. You can also read more about the horse its owner rides, the horse its trainer's wife rides, columnist Charlie Brooks on racing's cocaine problem and trainer Kitty's Light on how a horse helped him focus after , how his daughter was diagnosed with leukemia.< /p>When is the Aintree Grand National Festival?
The Grand National is the main event of the three-day Aintree Grand National Festival, which this year runs from today 11 April to Saturday 13 April.
The main event, the Grand National itself, takes place on Saturday afternoon.
What time does the 2024 Grand National start?
Runners will set off at 4pm on Saturday 13 April.
The start time has been moved from 5.15pm following the controversial 2023 event. edition of the race to increase the likelihood of a good result. The Jockey Club said the new start time is part of its «ongoing focus on the welfare of horses».
Where will the Grand National be held in 2024?
The race takes place at Aintree Racecourse, on the outskirts of Liverpool. Since it was first held in 1839, the race has never been officially held anywhere else.
Are there tickets for the Grand National?
Tickets for each day of the festival are sold on the Jockey Club website. On National Day, seafront prices for adults start from £45. Many other cases are already sold out. The most expensive hospitality package on sale costs £1,225. Parking costs an additional £35 or £60 if you want to park within walking distance of the field.
How many horses compete in the Grand National?
In 2024, the total number of horses in the Grand National has been reduced from 40 to 34 to improve the safety of racing. The highest number of runners was 66 in 1929. Back in 1883, only 10 horses competed in the race.
When will the horses be announced?
The last 34 horses were approved today. As of last year, if a horse is withdrawn after these 48-hour applications, that horse will not be replaced.
Initial entries for the race were due by 6 February and the BHA then published the weights (see below) two weeks later on 20 February. The five-day announcements were made on Monday, after which the number of candidates was whittled down. to 51. Today the number has been reduced to a final 34.
Only a certain number of horses meet the criteria for entry into the Grand National. Among the qualifications they must:
- have an official rating (OR) of 130 or more (horses must only be rated 125 in 2023);
- be aged 7 years or older;
- have completed three or more steeplechase races . ,
- have completed one steeplechase in the current season;
- have finished between 1st and 4th place in a steeplechase over 2 miles 7½ furlongs or further.
- have finished between 1st and 4th place in a steeplechase over 2 miles 7½ furlongs or further.
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What is the race distance?
Traditionally, the Grand National is described as a 4½ mile race. However, the official distance is four miles two furlongs and 74 yards (4m 2ft 74). This distance is measured in two yards inside the innermost rail.
The Grand National is the longest long jump race held in the UK.
How long is the Grand National?
About nine minutes. The distance record — 8 minutes 47.8 seconds — was set by Mr. Frisk in 1990. The jockey of the day, Marcus Armytage, is now a racing correspondent for Telegraph Sport.
How many fences are there in the Grand National?
The race has 16 separate fences, 14 of which are jumped twice. There are 30 jumps in total.
The fences are made from Sitka spruce or Norway spruce, which is trucked to Aintree from the Lake District. It takes about three weeks to erect all the fences.
Grand National Track Fences
- Fence 1 and 17 — Height 4' 6″ x Width 2' 9″
- Fence 2 and 18s – 4 feet 17 inches high, 3 feet 6 inches wide
- Fence 3 and 19— Open Ditch
- Fence 4 and 20— 5 ft. high, 10 ft. 6 in. wide (includes 7 ft. ditch on takeoff side)< /li>
- Fence 5 and 21—height 5 feet, width 3 feet 6 inches.
- Fence 6 and 22Becher's Brook – height 4 ft 10 in, width 7 ft 6 in.
- Fence 7 and 23, Foinavon – height 4 ft 6 in, width 3 ft.
- Fence 8 and 24, canal turn — 5 ft high, 7 ft wide
- Fence 8 and 24canal turn — 5 ft high, 7 ft wide
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- Fence 9 and 25, Valentines Brook – 5 feet high, 7 feet wide
- Fence 10 and 26 – 5 ft. high, 3 ft. wide
- Fence 11 and 27— 4 ft. 10 in. high, 9 ft. wide (including 6 ft. ditch on landing side)
- Fence 12 and 28— 5' high, 8' 6″ wide (including 5' 6″ ditch on landing side)
- Fence 13 and 29 — 4' 7″ high, 3' wide< /li>
- Fence 14 and 30 – height 4 feet 6 inches, width 3 feet
- Fence 14 and 30 – height 4 feet 6 inches, 3 feet wide
- Fence 13 and 29— 4 feet 7 inches high, 3 feet wide
- Fence 14 and 30 > – height 4 feet 7 inches, width 3 feet
- Fence 14 and 30– height 4 feet 7 inches, width 3 feet
- Fence 13 and 29 – height 4 feet 7 inches, width 3 feet
- Fence 14 and 30—height 4 feet 7 inches, width 3 feet
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- Fence 15Chair—height 5 feet 2 inches width 9 feet (including a 6-foot ditch on the take-off side)
- Fence 16, Water Jump — 2 feet 6 inches high.
Most Famous Fences Grand National
Aintree fences aren't as dangerous as they used to be. However, they are still the most famous obstacles in business.
Chair (Fence 15): Chair is the tallest fence on the field, currently standing at five feet two inches.
Bechera stream (fence 6 and 22):The sixth and 22nd fences in the race may not be the biggest, but their difficulty comes from the fact that the landing side is 10 inches lower than the takeoff side. Named after Captain Martin Becher, a jockey who fell at this stage during the first race in 1839 and hid in a creek to avoid injury.
St. Valentine's Creek (fence 9 and 25):Named after the horse that supposedly jumped over it backwards in 1840. Most likely, the horse was spinning in the air, creating an optical effect. the illusion that his hind legs landed first.
Foinavon (fence 7 and 23):One of the smaller fences is named after the 100/1 shooter who escaped a disastrous crowd here in 1967 and won. .
Channel Turn (Fences 8 and 24): As the name suggests, horses must turn sharply to the left after clearing this five-foot obstacle. Another Aintree myth is that used horses that refused to turn ended up in the Liverpool and Leeds Canal.
Grand National Prize Fund
The total prize fund for the Grand National is £1 million. In 2023, prize money was awarded to the first ten horses to pass as follows:
How does the handicapping system work?
The idea behind the handicapping process is that less popular horses can compete against better hunters. To achieve this, the best horses are asked to carry extra weight. The exact weight is determined by a handicapper appointed by the British Horseracing Authority.
The minimum weight a horse (including jockey) is allowed to carry is 10 pounds weighing 2 pounds. The highest-weight horse in the race will carry the 11th weight of 12 pounds, and all other handicap weights are calculated from this weight based on each horse's rating. Last year's winner, Corach Rambler, carried just 10 pounds, weighing 5 pounds.
In 2015, Many Clouds won with a 9-ounce weight of 11, the heaviest weight a winner has carried in recent history. The last horse to win with maximum weight was Red Ram in 1973, when the maximum handicap was set at 12th.
What changes were made to the Grand National this year?
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. However, the Jockey Club insists that the changes were not a direct response to these protests.
The most significant changes are:
- The field has been reduced from 40 horses to a maximum of 34. Evidence shows a correlation between field size and the risk of horses falling.
- The first fence has been moved forward towards the starting line by 60 yards to reduce the speed at which horses reach it.
- Starting will now be from a standing position on the tape rather than standing. traditional start with rewind. The change is also intended to reduce the speed at which horses reach the first hurdle.
- Each horse must have an official rating of at least 130 (rather than 125) and will be checked for jumping errors before being allowed. enter.
- The height of guardrail 11 has been reduced by two inches and the drop on the landing side will be reduced.
- Horses will no longer be led into the distance by a handler before racing, but instead are released to gallop. in front of the stands.
- The start time has been moved from 17.15 to 16.00.
Mullins turns heads with It On The Line
Emmett Mullins was warming up for Saturday's Grand National, in which he captains Noble Yeats to victory over Randox Foxhunters' Its On The Line, who went one better than him in a similar event at Cheltenham last month.
Mullins, whose careful and often unconventional planning has already won the 2022 National Championship with Noble Yates, said everything was positive for the horse's third run at the National, except perhaps the ground game.
Noble Yates is now set to carry 11th place at 12lb after Conflated was the only horse to retire at the 48-hour stage. At the other end of the handicap, Kitty's Light will be number 34, the last available spot in the inaugural National Championship, which caps the field size below 40.
“He has a reason and has come here in the past year after a tough race for the Gold Cup,” said Mullins of Noble Yeats. «He ran the Stayers' Hurdle this time, so what we lose on the ground, hopefully we gain in freshness.»
It On The Line, wearing the green and gold colors of JP McManus, looked hard work for Derek O'Connor but picked them off one by one to come home four and a half lengths from Bennys King, another horse posted on the day of the competition. a near miss for Dan Skelton.
«He's not a natural leader by any means and he likes to figure things out and get into a rhythm and figure it out,» Mullins said of the winner. “I think his name is apt. I probably didn't plan this race after Cheltenham. We gave him a speculative position, and once it was tough, it always brought staying power into the game. This had the biggest impact on him.»
Only 10 of the 22 runners completed the course with the new settings. Both fellers fell at the Chair and one of the jockeys who attended, Ben Sutton, was taken to hospital for a routine X-ray due to a back injury. David Maxwell, who rides Ain't That A Shame tomorrow, is no worse off for being unseated from Cat Tiger.
Don't miss out on these best betting offers — check out our list right before the Grand National
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