Of the thousands of horse races held in Britain every year, only one really holds the nation back: the Grand National at Aintree.
The most prestigious tower run in the world will see 34 runners take on the 30 Grand National fences of the Liverpool course. The four-mile, 2½ furlong race takes no more than nine minutes.
Here's everything you need to know about this year's race, including the changes that have been made since 2023.
When is the 2023 Grand National?
The Grand National is the culmination of Aintree's three-day Grand National Festival, which this year runs from Thursday 11 April to Saturday 13 April.
The main event, the Grand National itself, is on Saturday afternoon.
When does the race begin?
The runners will be sent out on Saturday, April 13 at 5:15 p.m.
The Jockey Club had announced after the controversial edition of the 2023 race that the start would be brought forward to earlier in the afternoon to increase the chance of good ground. However, the published timetable for 2024 shows that no time change has taken place.
The Grand National is the sixth of seven races on the day, according to a card that starts at 1.45pm and ends with the final race at 6.20pm.
How can I watch the race? What TV channel is it on?
By law, the Grand National is one of two horse races that must be shown on free-to-air television (the Epsom Derby is the other). Live television coverage will take place on ITV and Racing TV.
The three-day Grand National Festival usually welcomes around 150,000 racing fans to the grandstands themselves.
Are Grand National tickets available?
Tickets for each day of the festival can be purchased via the Jockey Club website. For the Grand National itself, prices start at £45 for adults at The Embankment. Many other enclosures have already sold out. The most expensive hospitality package on sale costs £1,225. Parking costs an additional £35, or £60 if you wish to park within walking distance of the track.
Which horses will participate in the 2024 Grand National?
Only a certain number of horses meet the criteria to race at the Grand National. Among the qualifications they must:
The story continues
-
have an Official Rating (OR) of 130 or more (in 2023 horses only need to have a rating of 125)
-
be 7 years or older,
-
have completed three or more tower hunts,
-
have completed one steep hunt in the current season,
-
have finished between 1st and 4th in a steep chase over 2 miles and 7½ furlongs or further.
The longlist of potential runners is expected in early February. A week or two later the handicapper announces what weights these horses will carry, after which many trainers withdraw their horses.
The five-day declarations take place on the Monday before the race, after which the field is reduced to 50.
The final 34 horses for the Grand National will be confirmed on Thursday April 11, 48 hours before the race. If a horse is withdrawn after these 48-hour notifications, this horse will not be replaced since last year.
How does the handicap system work?
The idea of the handicapping process is to allow less gifted horses to compete with the world's best steeples. To achieve this, the best rated horses are asked to carry extra weight. The exact amount of weight is determined by a handicap formula drawn up by the British Horseracing Authority.
The least a horse should carry (including the jockey) is 10st 2oz. The horse with the highest weight will carry 11st 12lb, with any other handicap weight calculated based on that weight. Last year's winner, Corach Rambler, carried just 10st 5lb. In 2015 Many Clouds won by 11st 9oz, the toughest handicap for a winner in recent history. The last horse to win at the highest weight was Red Rum in 1973, when the top handicap was set at 12th.
Where is the 2024 Grand National?
The race takes place at Aintree Racecourse, on the outskirts of Liverpool. Since the first edition in 1839, the race has never been held elsewhere.
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. However, the Jockey Club insists the changes did not come as a direct response to those protests.
The most important changes are as follows:
-
The field has been reduced from 40 horses to a maximum of 34 horses. There is evidence that there is a link between the size of a field and the risk of horses falling.
-
The first fence has been moved 60 meters forward, towards the starting line, to reduce the speed at which the horses reach it.
-
The start will now be a standing start at the tape, instead of the traditional rolling start. This change is also intended to reduce the speed at which horses arrive at the first obstacle.
-
Each horse must have an official rating of at least 130 (instead of 125) and will be checked for jumping faults before being admitted.
-
Fence 11 has been reduced in height by five centimeters and the height on the landing side will be reduced.
-
Horses are no longer led onto the course by a handler before the race, but are released to gallop in front of the stands.
The most famous gates of the Grand National
The Aintree fences are not as dangerous as they once were. However, they are still the most notorious obstacles in the industry.
The chair: The chair is the highest fence on the track and now stands at a height of one and a half meters and five centimeters.
Becher's brook: The sixth and 22nd obstacles in the race may not be the biggest, but the difficulty comes from the fact that the landing side is 10 inches lower than the take-off side. Named after Captain Martin Becher, a jockey who fell at this stage of the first race of the race in 1839 and hid in the stream to avoid injury.
Valentijnsbeek: Named after a horse that is said to have jumped it backwards in 1840. More likely, the horse spun in the air to create the optical illusion that its hind legs landed first.
Foinavon: One of the smaller fences is named after the 100/1 player who avoided a disastrous pile-up here in 1967 and went on to win.
Canal bend: As the name suggests, horses must take a sharp left turn after jumping over this five-foot obstacle. Another Aintree myth is that used horses that refused to turn ended up in the Liverpool and Leeds Canal.
