Summary
The highly anticipated Grand National is just around the corner, scheduled for Saturday, April 13, 2024. With a total prize pool of 1 million Pounds, the winner's share amounts to a hefty 500,000 Pounds. Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool will host the event, sponsored by Randox Health.
In this guide, we'll cover the latest odds from LeoVegas, provide betting tips on two promising horses, delve into the Grand National's rich history, highlight past winners, and outline essential betting trends for making informed decisions.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
- Grand National Betting Guide
- Grand National Betting Tips
- Chemical Energy (25/1 with LeoVegas)
- Mr. Incredible (33/1 with LeoVegas)
- About The Grand National
- Aintree Grand National Betting Odds
- How to Bet on the Grand National: Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
- Previous Grand National Winners
- Grand National Winning Trainers
- Grand National Betting Trends
Grand National Betting Guide
It’s not too long now till the 2024 edition of the Grand National takes place on Saturday, April 13.
The total prize pool is 1 million Pounds with the winner’s owners pocketing exactly half of that: 500,000 Pounds. The 2024 edition will, as ever, be held at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, and will be sponsored by Randox Health.
Read on to find out the latest LeoVegas odds on the race, our own latest betting tips, a summary of the Grand National’s history, an account of historic winners (including horses, jockeys and trainers) and some betting trends to look out for when considering who to put your money on.
Grand National Betting Tips
And let’s kick things off with two horses who have caught our eye in terms of ticking plenty of boxes when it comes to what’s needed to win the Grand National.
They’re both available at big prices right now so remember that if you choose to back them each-way, you’d still secure a chunky profit if either of them finishes in the Top 4.
Chemical Energy (25/1 with LeoVegas)
You’ll see further down in this article that the horse’s trainer Gordon Elliott has already had three winners in this race so he certainly knows what deal is when it comes to preparing a horse for the rigors of the Grand National.
8-year-Chemical Energy has a fine record of six wins from 16 under Rules and perhaps of greater relevance, 2/7 in Chase races, winning back-to-back races in the autumn of 2022 at 11/10 and 4/1 respectively with the very capable Davy Russell on board.
He’s shown to have a good blend of speed and stamina, essential ingredients for recent editions of the National.
After a somewhat quiet season and with a current rating of 148 by the BHA, he will now race at a weight of 10-5 meaning the handicapper will have been kind to him.
Having shown great potential in the past, carrying little weight, having an experienced jockey on board and a 3-time winning trainer in Elliott pulling the strings, he has a good chance of a strong showing.
Mr. Incredible (33/1 with LeoVegas)
This one is a bit of a loose cannon who can occasionally be a case of ‘feast or famine’, but this is a horse who can be as good as any on its day.
It was extremely unfortunate to unseat its rider Brian Hayes when a leather broke and the saddle gave way in last year’s National because it was travelling beautifully down the inside channel and he could well have challenged for outright victory, or at least a runner-up spot.
Now under the care of Patrick Mullins, it’s been especially prepared all year with this race in mind and is well-handicapped, so if it’s in the right frame of mind, it can go pretty close.
About The Grand National
The Grand National at Aintree racecourse in Liverpool is probably the most famous horse race in the world, definitely the richest jump race in Europe, one of the most popular competitions on the UK sporting calendar and the single biggest betting event in the UK every year.
It’s a handicap race meaning horses carry different weights, allocated by the handicapper. A better horse will carry a heavier weight, to give it a disadvantage when racing against slower horses with an inferior record over their careers. The better the horse, the more weight it will carry.
It’s a race that attracts wagers from millions of people up and down the country, some horse racing aficionados, others people who never place a bet on a horse race throughout the year or any other sports bet, for that matter. And that’s just in the UK because punters from all over the globe bet on it, too.
It's seen as ‘the ultimate test of horse and rider’ and is arguably the toughest high-profile horse race in the world, run across just over four miles, over two laps of the track, and with 30 punishing fences to jump.
Currently broadcast on ITV in the UK, it’s estimated that 500 to 600 million people watch it in 140 different countries, also making it one of the most-watched annual sporting events, alongside the likes of the Superbowl.
Its rich history and potential for drama have made heroes out of horses, trainers and jockeys while famous incidents from past races have become part of racing folklore and British culture.
Officially, it was first run in 1839 though racing historians suggest it was actually run a good 10 years before that, though both the races and results have been disregarded on account of the fact that most believe the race was run at the nearby Maghull track rather than Aintree, prior to 1938.
It wasn’t officially run between 1916 and 1918 as Aintree racecourse was being used by the War Office during the First World War. Though it was run at Gatwick racecourse instead for those years, those three editions aren’t included in the record books.
There was also no race between 1941 and 1945 because of the Second World War. In 1993 there was no official result after a false start caused chaos and led to some horses finishing while others remained at the starting post.
The 2020 edition was called off because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Aintree Grand National Betting Odds
Who will be the 34?
At the time of writing, there are 87 horses listed in LeoVegas’ ante-post Grand National winner market. Eventually, this will be reduced to 34 after the number of entrants was slashed from 40 to 34 ahead of the 2024 edition in order to improve the safety of the race.
The greatest number of horses taking part was 66 back in 1929 while in 1883 there were just 10.
Remember that at LeoVegas you don’t have to just bet on the winner of the race; the ante-post market allows you to place each-way bets, meaning that if your horse places in the Top 4, you’ll be paid out at a 1/4 of the winner odds.
Maximum and Vanillier currently joint-favourites
There are currently two horses vying for favouritism at odds of 10/1 with the horse in the market considered the rank outsider currently priced up at odds of 90/1.
Here are the Top 20 in the betting:
| Horse | Odds |
|---|---|
| I Am Maximus | 10/1 |
| Vanillier | 10/1 |
| Corach Rambler | 12/1 |
| Mahler Mission | 14/1 |
| Monbeg Genius | 14/1 |
| Noble Yeats | 16/1 |
| Kitty's Light | 18/1 |
| Panda Boy | 18/1 |
| Galvin | 20/1 |
| Capodanno | 25/1 |
| Chemical Energy | 25/1 |
| Meetingofthewaters | 25/1 |
| Nassalam | 25/1 |
| Minella Indo | 28/1 |
| Ain't That a Shame | 33/1 |
| Delta Work | 33/1 |
| Hewick | 33/1 |
| Latenightpass | 33/1 |
| Mr Incredible | 33/1 |
| Stattler | 33/1 |
How to bet on the Grand National: Putting your money where your mouth is
- First up, you’re going to need a funded LeoVegas betting account.
- If you want to bet ante-post at possibly far bigger odds than what they’ll be nearer the time, go to Sports/Browse Sports/Horse Racing/Ante Post/ UK and Ireland Ante-post Grand National.
- Remember that on an Ante-Post market such as this one, if your horse isn’t declared a runner, you won’t get your money back.
- Click on the name of the horse you want to back, choose your stake and decide if you want to back to just to win, or each-way.
- Each-way terms for the Grand National are 1/4 odds on the Top 4 places.
- If you want to make sure you get a run for your money, it’s best to wait till the declaration stage, which is two days before the race is run. Once the 34 runners have been confirmed, those will definitely run.
Previous Grand National Winners
Here are the winners of the Grand National since 2004, alongside other important information relating to the win such as the winner’s Starting Price, the jockey and winning time.
| Year | Winner | Age | Jockey | Trainer | Owner | Starting Price Odds | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Amberleigh House | 12 | Graham Lee | Ginger McCain | Halewood Int. Ltd | 16/1 | 9m 20.3s |
| 2005 | Hedgehunter | 9 | Ruby Walsh | Willie Mullins | Trevor Hemmings | 7/1 F | 9m 20.8s |
| 2006 | Numbersixvalverde | 10 | Niall Madden | Martin Brassil | Bernard Carroll | 11/1 | 9m 41.0s |
| 2007 | Silver Birch | 10 | Robbie Power | Gordon Elliott | Brian Walsh | 33/1 | 9m 13.6s |
| 2008 | Comply or Die | 9 | Timmy Murphy | David Pipe | David Johnson | 7/1 JF | 9m 16.6s |
| 2009 | Mon Mome | 9 | Liam Treadwell | Venetia Williams | Vida Bingham | 100/1 | 9m 32.9s |
| 2010 | Don't Push It | 10 | Tony McCoy | Jonjo O'Neill | J. P. McManus | 10/1 JF | 9m 4.6s |
| 2011 | Ballabriggs | 10 | Jason Maguire | Donald McCain, Jr. | Trevor Hemmings | 14/1 | 9m 1.2s |
| 2012 | Neptune Collonges | 11 | Daryl Jacob | Paul Nicholls | John Hales | 33/1 | 9m 5.1s |
| 2013 | Auroras Encore | 11 | Ryan Mania | Sue Smith | Douglas Pryde, Jim Beaumont and David P van der Hoeven | 66/1 | 9m 12.0s |
| 2014 | Pineau De Re | 11 | Leighton Aspell | Dr Richard Newland | John Provan | 25/1 | 9m 9.9s |
| 2015 | Many Clouds | 8 | Leighton Aspell | Oliver Sherwood | Trevor Hemmings | 25/1 | 8m 56.8s |
| 2016 | Rule The World | 9 | David Mullins | Mouse Morris | Gigginstown House Stud | 33/1 | 9m 29.0s |
| 2017 | One For Arthur | 8 | Derek Fox | Lucinda Russell | Deborah Thomson & Belinda McClung | 14/1 | 9m 3.5s |
| 2018 | Tiger Roll | 8 | Davy Russell | Gordon Elliott | Gigginstown House Stud | 10/1 | 9m 40.1s |
| 2019 | Tiger Roll | 9 | Davy Russell | Gordon Elliott | Gigginstown House Stud | 4/1 F | 9m 1.0s |
| 2020 | Cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic | ||||||
| 2021 | Minella Times | 8 | Rachael Blackmore | Henry de Bromhead | J. P. McManus | 11/1 | 9m 16.42s |
| 2022 | Noble Yeats | 7 | Mr Sam Waley-Cohen | Emmet Mullins | Robert Waley-Cohen | 50/1 | 9m 3.06s |
| 2023 | Corach Rambler | 9 | Derek Fox | Lucinda Russell | The Ramblers | 8/1 F | 9m 12.06s |
Red Rum in a league of its own
And here a few observations about the winning horses, both from the past 20 years and going further back:
- Tiger Roll was the only horse to win back-to-back Grand Nationals since 2004, doing so in 2018 and 2019 at odds of 10/1 and 4/1 JF respectively.
- The other horses to have won it twice are: Abd-El-Kader (1850 and 1851), Peter Simple (1849 and 1853), The Lamb (1868 and 1871), The Colonel (1869 and 1870), Manifesto (1897 and 1899), and Reynoldstown (1935 and 1936).
- Red Rum is the only horse in the history of the race to have won it on three occasions, doing so in 1973, 1974 and 1977.
- Two-time winner Peter Simple, who won his second National a whole four years after his first, did so as the oldest-ever winner the second time round at the ripe old age of 15.
- 1990 winner Mr Frisk did so in the fastest-ever time round Aintree, winning in 8.47.80 minutes. It beat the previous record set by Red Rum in the first of his three wins back in 1973, getting the better of Crisp by less than a length, in what is widely considered the best running of the Grand National ever.
Grand National Winning Trainers
Looking at trainers to have won the Grand National and three top the list for the most wins with four each. They are:
- George Dockeray – 4 wins (Lottery, 1839; Jerry, 1840; Gaylad, 1842; Miss Mowbray, 1852)
- Fred Rimell – 4 wins (E.S.B., 1956; Nicolaus Silver, 1961; Gay Trip, 1970; Rag Trade, 1976)
- Ginger McCain – 4 wins (Red Rum, 1973, 1974, 1977; Amberleigh House, 2004
The McCains: Ginger leads the way, son Donald follows suit
The stand-out name here is Ginger McCain. Not only was he the trainer of the only horse ever to have won the Grand National on three separate occasions- Red Rum- but his final victory in 2004 with Amberleigh House came a remarkable 27 years after the last of Red Rum’s wins and 31 years after the first of McCain and Red Rum’s wins back in 1973.
Seven years after Amberleigh House’s success, Ginger’s son Donald trained 14/1 shot Ballabriggs to success in the race, just a few months before Ginger passed away from cancer.
Gordon Elliott looks to join exclusive club
Irish trainer Elliott was just 29 when in 2007 Silver Birch, the first-ever horse Elliott entered into the National, won as a 33/1 chance.
11 years later he trained Tiger Roll to success in 2018 and followed that up with another win the next year, putting Elliott on three wins in the race with the possibility of joining the elite club of four-time winners, as per above.
He may even do so this year. He currently has 26 entries in the race (not all will eventually be entered, of course) but realistically he could have 11 or 12, which is a third of the field!
That said, his best chance at the time of writing is 20/1 chance Galvin, who is the ninth favourite; so it’s not like he’s the trainer of two or three of the Top 6 in the betting.
Here are some of the other of Elliott’s horses who could be entered into the race, with the latest LeoVegas odds next to them.
- Galvin- 20/1.
- Chemical Energy- 25/1
- Delta Work – 33/1
- Conflated – 40/1.
- Coko Beach- 40/1.
- The Goffer- 40/1
- Salvador Ziggy- 45/1.
- Ash Tree Meadow- 50/1.
- Farouk d’Alene- 50/1.
- Minella Crooner- 50/1.
- Fury Road- 66/1.
- Run Wild Fred- 66/1.
- Embittered- 90/1.
Grand National Jockey Wins
Time to look at some of the jockeys who have left their mark on his race, mostly for the right reasons, but not always…
By George, that’s impressive!
This is going back a long, long time but George Stevens is the only jockey to have won the race on five separate occasions.
They were:
A jockey since the age of 16, in a career spanning 22 years he won 76 races, including of course, those historic five wins in the National. He was just 44 when he passed away after a horse-riding accident left him with a fractured skull, when his horse stumbled and threw him off after bolting. He was casually riding the horse home when it happened.
Best of the rest
The following jockeys won the race on three occasions:
- Arthur Nightigfall.
- Brian Fletcher.
- Jack Anthony.
- Tommy Beasley.
- Tommy Pickernell.
- Tom Oliver.
Rachel makes history
Despite so many female jockeys having taken part in the race over the decades, only one has ever ridden the winner.
Rachel Blackmore rode Minella Times to glory in 2021 after going off at 11/1 for trainer Henry de Bromhead and owner JP McManus.
Johnson’s National woes
Finally, save a thought for Richard Johnson. To hold the record for the most rides in the Grand National with 21 is something he will no doubt be extremely proud of.
He’ll be less proud of the fact that he never actually won it.
Twice he rode the runner-up though, on What’s Up Boys in 2002 and Balthazar King in 2014.
Grand National Betting Trends
If you’re looking for some patterns as to who might win this year, here are some to be aware of:
- You don’t want to necessarily be betting on the favourites. Just 2 of the last 11 favourites/joint favourites won with 8 out of the last 11 winning at odds of 11/1 or bigger.
- The last 11 editions have seen winners at 66/1, 50/1, 33/1 (twice), and 25/1 (twice).
- Course experience is as important here as in the US Masters (Golf) at Augusta; it pays to have raced here before with 8 out of the last 11 winners having raced at Aintree before and 3/11 having won here before.
- 7/11 winners had at least 1 previous win in Grade 1-3 races.
- You don’t want to be under-cooked for this race: 11/11 had at least 3 previous runs that season. But you don’t want to be overcooked, either: 9/11 winners had no more than 6 runs that season. 8/11 had at least 1 win that previous season.
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