2 weeks Ago By Alex Young
The pinnacle of the National Hunt racing season is upon us, with the Grand National taking place today at Aintree . Only three weeks after the Cheltenham Festival comes another highlight of the British sporting calendar as Liverpool plays host to the world’s most face steeplechase. The Willie Mullins-trained I Am Maximus sits at the top of the weights as he seeks to emulate the likes of Red Rum and Tiger Roll by retaining the crown he won 12 months ago.
The race has a typically open look to it after connections decided against running Inothewayurthinkin, the long-time ante-post favourite, so soon after his superb Cheltenham Gold Cup win. Former King George winner Hewick, Cheltenham’s Cross Country Chase hero Stumptown and Irish National winner Intense Raffles are among the other prominent contenders, while even beyond the defending champion owner JP McManus has a strong hand, including Iroko. Here’s everything you need to know.
.. The 2025 Grand National meeting runs from Thursday, April 3, to Saturday, April 5, with the Grand National itself taking place at 4pm BST today.
A new, earlier time for the feature race of the meeting was introduced last year, bringing the race forward by 75 minutes, and remains in place for the 2025 edition. As ever, the famous Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool will host the race. The final field was confirmed on the morning of Thursday, April 3.
You can read the full 34-horse list here . Our tipster, Johnny Ward, has named his pick for the rac e, and five others, while reporter Malik Ouzia has named three horses to watch . The sun is expected to shine over Aintree for the majority of the meeting, with little to no rain predicted across all three days.
Hitting a high of 18C on Thursday and Friday, Saturday will see slightly cooler temperatures closer to 15C for a dry few days. The total prize fund for the race is £1 million, and it breaks down as follows: (25/1 bar, odds subject to change.) 13:20: William Hill Handicap Hurdle (Premier Handicap) 13:55: Mersey Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1) 14:30: Freebooter Handicap Chase (Premier Handicap) 15:05: Liverpool Hurdle (Grade 1) 16:00: Grand National (Premier Handicap) 17:00: Maghull Novices’ Chase (Grade 1) 17:35: Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race (Grade 2) Follow the Grand National live with Standard Sport!.
