Grand National Festival 2027

The Grand National Festival at Aintree is the most famous jumps meeting in the world — three days of elite National Hunt racing culminating in the world's greatest steeplechase. The 2027 renewal runs 8–10 April at Aintree Racecourse on Merseyside.

The meeting at a glance

Aintree's three-day Festival spans Thursday, Ladies Day Friday and Grand National Saturday. It's the spring climax of the National Hunt season — a showcase of the Cheltenham heroes and rivals in a different setting, plus the unique spectacle of the Grand National fences.

Total prize money regularly exceeds £5 million, with the Grand National itself worth £1 million to the winner. Every Grade 1 hurdler and chaser worth a penny in Britain and Ireland comes here.

Feature races

Grade 1 Championship Races

Aintree Bowl (Thursday) — 3m 1f chase. The post-Cheltenham championship test for staying chasers; often won by horses beaten a head at the Festival.

Aintree Hurdle (Thursday) — 2m 4f hurdle. A classic rematch venue for the Champion Hurdle and Stayers' Hurdle fields.

Melling Chase (Friday) — 2m 4f chase. Intermediate-distance Grade 1 chase, usually a high-class five- or six-horse contest.

Manifesto Novices' Chase (Thursday) — 2m 4f novice chase.

Mersey Novices' Hurdle (Friday) — 2m 4f novice hurdle.

Sefton Novices' Hurdle (Thursday) — 3m novice hurdle.

Maghull Novices' Chase (Saturday) — 2m novice chase.

The Showpiece

Randox Grand National (Saturday) — 4m 2½f handicap chase over 30 unique fences including Becher's Brook, The Chair and the Canal Turn. A maximum field of 34 runners. Past winners include Tiger Roll (twice), I Am Maximus, Minella Times and Noble Yeats.

Major Handicaps — the Topham Chase (over the National fences), Fox Hunters' Chase and Red Rum Handicap Chase add further big-field betting heat across the three days.

Understanding the course

Aintree is a left-handed flat course of roughly 2m 2f round for the Mildmay races, plus the separate National course with its iconic spruce-dressed fences. The National course fences are different in character from park-style chase fences — jumpers who relish an open, galloping test often outrun their marks here, while quirky jumpers can find the drop fences too much.

The Mildmay course (used for the Grade 1 chases) is flat and fair with relatively small fences — a proper jumping test with an emphasis on accuracy rather than stamina.

Betting angles

Post-Cheltenham bounce. Horses who've run in the Gold Cup or Champion Chase often return at Aintree three weeks later either in better form (if they had an easy time at Cheltenham) or in worse form (if they had a hard race). Read the Cheltenham run carefully.

Grand National selection. The field is a staying handicap with 34 runners — look for horses proven at 3m+, jumping stamina, and ideally with previous Aintree experience. Recent years have favoured horses rated 140–160.

Extra places matter massively in the National. Most bookmakers offer 5–7 places, and the edge of an extra place can be worth a huge amount on a 34-runner race. Our each-way betting guide explains where to shop.

Ground matters more here than most festivals. Aintree can ride much quicker than Cheltenham; horses who want soft ground can struggle if the sun comes out.

Market moves are loud. The Grand National has one of the biggest pre-race markets in British sport, and steamers often tell you something — though not always the right thing.

How we surface the value

Our value engine compares every UK bookmaker's Aintree price against the Betfair Exchange benchmark in real time. The Grand National market opens 12 months ahead but really comes alive in the week of the race as fields are confirmed and non-runners announced. Our overround guide shows why huge fields produce the fattest value windows.

Key dates — 2027

Day	Date	Theme	Feature Race
Thursday	8 April	Opening Day	Aintree Hurdle / Aintree Bowl
Friday	9 April	Ladies Day	Melling Chase
Saturday	10 April	Grand National Day	Randox Grand National

Declarations are published five days before each race. Live odds, market moves, non-runners and each-way terms appear here as soon as fields are confirmed.