As the name suggests, the Aintree Grand National Festival is a three-day meeting staged at Aintree Racecourse, in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, on the second Thursday, Friday and Saturday in April. The meeting consists of ‘Grand Opening Day’, ‘Ladies Day’ and ‘Grand National Day’, with arguably the most famous horse race in the world, the Grand National, currently scheduled as the fifth of seven races on the Saturday.
The Grand National has undergone drastic changes in recent years, but remains the longest National Hunt race in Britain, run over a distance of 4 miles, 2 furlongs and 74 yards, and features a maximum of 34 runners, that number having been reduced from 40 from 2024 onwards, as part of measures designed to improve safety. Likewise, the Grand National remains a hugely popular event, watched annually by an estimated 800 million television viewers worldwide.With a roll of honour that includes iconic names such as Golden Miller, Manifesto, Red Rum and, more recently, Tiger Roll, the Grand National requires little further introduction.
Of course, the Aintree Grand National Festival is not just about the Grand National itself, with seven top-quality races on each of the three days, including 10 at the highest, Grade 1 level. Indeed, the meeting starts with four Grade 1 races in a row, the Manifesto Novices’ Chase, 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle, Aintree Bowl Chase and Aintree Hurdle, followed by four more on Ladies Day, the Mildmay Novices’ Chase, Top Novices’ Hurdle, Melling Chase and Sefton Novices’ Hurdle, and two more on Grand National Day, the Mersey Novices’ Hurdle and Maghull Novices’ Chase. Aside from the Grand National, the meeting also features two other races over the Grand National fences, the Foxhunters’ Open Hunters’ Chase on the Thursday and the Topham Handicap Chase on the Friday.