The Grand National is truly the race that the world stops to watch, and each year it attracts a global audience as a flagship event in the UK horse racing calendar. The Grand National is famous for being one of the richest handicap prizes in world horse racing, and its iconic fences capture the true essence of jump racing for purists and new fans alike.

Whether you are taking in your first Grand National or you’re a veteran of the horse racing game, this ultimate Grand National betting guide will give you all you need to know before the off as well as Grand National free bets and which horses to watch out for when opening up your favourite betting apps.

When Is The 2025 Aintree Grand National?

The Grand National will take place at Aintree on April 5th at 4pm. This time slot has been a topic of discussion for some time and aims to give it pride of place among a busy Saturday television audience for Premier League football and other prime-time Saturday events, while giving people who like to place a wager plenty of time to visit the horse racing betting sites of their choice.

The Aintree Grand National meeting starts on the Thursday 3rd April and lasts for three days in total, with 21 races and 13 Grade 1 contests across the three days. It provides a perfect chance for those that won at the Cheltenham Festival to double up or those that missed out to take revenge. 

How To Place A Bet On The Grand National

With online betting options and massive choice across UK betting sites and Irish betting sites, picking out the right betting option for you can be tricky

Bookmakers are keen to take your business, and therefore the markets have become seriously competitive with enhancements and free bet offers around the Grand National. Traditionally, a field of this size with 34 runners would have been a perfect race for each-way bettors to find a horse at a big price and hope they can come home to win or place in the first four. 

Often, you will find a special sign up offer available if placing your first bet at new betting sites on the Grand National itself. New customer betting offers and welcome bonuses vary, but Grand National day is special, and you will see the usual bonuses increased around the Aintree meeting that allow you to get more for your spend and or money back for losers or free bets on offer to get involved.

Different Types Of Grand National Bet

Win Single

A bet on a horse to win. One selection and one outcome with this bet. An example would be a £10 bet placed to win on a horse, and should the horse win, you will be paid at the odds it returns at, the starting price. While best odds guaranteed bookies will ensure you get the best price of the one you took originally or the starting price.

Each Way Single

A bet on a horse to win and a bet on the horse to place – known as each way. Be sure to know that this is actually two bets on the same horse. Horses at bigger prices would make the place part of an each way bet more attractive. If your chosen horse was 20/1 and had placed, you would lose the win part of your each way bet, but the place part would be settled at 5/1 if you're getting a quarter of the odds, or 4/1 if you're getting a fifth of the odds.

Forecast

Selecting two horses in the race to finish first and second. It’s hard to land this given the size of the field and the nature of the Grand National, of course, but it’s hugely rewarding if you can get it right. You can do a reverse forecast, which is two bets covering the two horses to finish first and second in any order or a straight forecast where you select the winner and second correctly. 

Tricast

Similar to a forecast as you are predicting the horses to finish in the first two, but with a tricast you are also selecting a horse to finish third, so it becomes even harder! 

Betting without the favourite

Sometimes horses go off prohibitively short for this race given the size of the field and how long the race is, which could mean you might want to look at betting without the favourite to shorten the odds of an outsider you fancy the chances. Top UK betting sites will all provide this option.

Choosing a Grand National Betting Site and Offer

The best £5 deposit betting sites will cover several aspects of the race in great detail that make betting on the event simple and hopefully rewarding. You will likely receive an enhanced welcome offer where a £10 stake might be matched with a free bet to the same value or a deposit bonus that allows you to deposit £10 but bet with up to £50 or £60 for the day itself across all the races. Some of the best cash out betting sites will offer money back or free bets in return for bad luck like a faller or finishing second, and it pays to check out all the operators here on Bookies.com to be sure you are getting the best value for your betting on the Grand National.

We make sure our list of betting sites on our pages is constantly updated with the best possible free bets to make it easier for you.

How to Bet on the Grand National Online

Opening a new betting account online is a simple exercise and similar to any ecommerce account or transaction you may have completed online in recent times. Be sure to have a few items to hand to complete the standard customer requirements. The steps vary a little but usually take the following process.

Some sites will require an upload of photographic identification like a driving licence or a passport, which can be done directly with your phone or tablet, or sent in to their customer service team by email. Also, an address verification such as a recent utility bill to confirm your residence may be required. This will ensure there are no delays with withdrawals or future deposits and allow for a seamless process that you would expect in the normal course of setting up an account with a company online. You will need to choose a payment method and fund your account, with the likes of Apple Pay betting sites and Trustly betting sites increasingly popular alongside the most traditional Visa and Mastercard options.

How to Withdraw Your Grand National Winnings

If you are lucky enough to place a winning bet on the Grand National this year, your online betting account balance will reflect those winnings with an updated balance. You can access your balance by choosing the account option and selecting withdrawal. You will be able to withdraw all or some of the balance using the same payment method you used to fund your account and make your initial deposit. Many of the best betting sites with live streaming will process a withdrawal instantly, or within a matter of hours, but some may take a working day or two to conclude. 

Grand National Betting Trends

Many versions of Grand National trends have been successfully used to identify a shortlist for the winner of the great race. When you are staring at a Grand National race card with 34 runners, it is hard to narrow it down to just a few without some helpful hints as to what it might take to win the race or finish in the money. Our experts have taken a look at the most recent trends of the last 25 runnings so you can have a fairly good idea of the profile of horse that would be a good one for you to choose.

Biggest Priced Grand National Winners

In recent times, Mon Mome’s success in the 2009 Grand National at 100/1 for trainer Venetia Williams and jockey Liam Treadwell was a standout for big-priced winners in the Grand National. The nine-year-old actually fitted many of the trends required to win the race but was unfancied by punters that year and returned a three-figure price and caused an almighty shock. Foinavon, who now has a fence named after him on the Aintree Grand National course was also a 100/1 winner in 1967, but they are few and far between. 

The lottery aspect of the race is still true to this day with the test of stamina and jumping not a simple one for even the best horses and jockeys to navigate. Winners at 66/1, 50/1, 40/1 and 33/1 are commonplace, and horses finishing in the places at these odds happen almost without fail every single year. Don’t be put off by a big price, if the horse fits some of the trends mentioned above and is a big price that is usually a better bet than most will find.

Grand National Betting Lingo

Don’t be put off by horse racing lingo in the run up to the Grand National and when betting on the race. The terms may sound complicated but are basically just slang for common things, and some are detailed below.

• Jolly – the race favourite with the punters.
• In The Money – the horse has finished in the places, rewarding each-way backers.
• The Elbow – the part of the track after the last fence in the Grand National when the horses must turn slightly right to meet the straight to the finishing post. Shaped a little like an elbow.
• Backed Off The Boards – a horse is being heavily supported with bets in the betting market and is clearly fancied to do well.
• Pulled Up – the jockey decided to stop his horse from completing the race, possibly due to an injury or being too tired to finish or a long way back from the front and without a chance of winning.
• Held Up – letting the race develop in front of him rather than mixing it with the pace setters.
• The Melling Road – literally a road that crosses a part of the course that horses run across during the race.
• Becher’s Brook – a famous fence that takes a lot of jumping on the way round in the Grand National.
• The Chair – another famous fence that must be negotiated during the Grand National.
• Foinavon – a famous fence at the National where plenty of horses fell and allowed the 100/1 outsider Foinavon to come through and win the race having been out the back for a long way.
• Drifter – the price on this horse is getting bigger before the race, which can mean that it is not fancied and perhaps will perform below par.
• Steamer – the opposite of a drifter, this suggests a horse is being well backed and fancied to perform better than expected by the betting public.
• Tip – a suggested horse from someone who claims to know a lot about the race, otherwise known as a tipster.

Grand National Entries, Runners and Riders

The current entries for the Grand National are known weeks in advance, along with the weights, numbers and colours they will carry in the race. Here are the latest odds on all the runners of the race from top fast withdrawal betting sites:

Who is the Favourite for the Grand National?

There are a number of favourites for the 2025 Grand National at the time of writing with five horses all in single-figures with many of the best betting sites. Stumptown was a convincing winner of the Cross Country Chase at the Cheltenham Festival this year. and he is fancied by many to go well here for trainer Gavin Cromwell, who had the winner of the Cheltenham Gold Cup this year in Inothewayurthinkin. Intense Raffles was a ready winner of the Irish Grand National last year and has evidently been campaigned for this all season with two out of three runs coming over hurdles to preserve his rating for this race. Other names fancied include Iroko, last year's winner I Am Maximus and previous American Grand National winner Hewick.

Who Won the 2024 Grand National?

The 2024 Grand National was won by I Am Maximus, who went off as the joint favourite with most operators at 7/1. Trained by Willie Mullins in Ireland, owned by famous racing legend JP McManus and ridden by Paul Townend. The win inspired Mullins to go for the UK top trainer award, which he eventually won.

What Horse Does Rachael Blackmore Ride in the Grand National?

Jockey bookings are not yet confirmed for the Grand National and can change up to 48 hours before the race itself to allow for non-runners, injuries and decisions to be made as to the best chances the trainer and connections feel their horses have as the race approaches. However, Rachael Blackmore will likely partner Senior Chief in this race, and all of Rachael Blackmore's booked rides for the Aintree Grand National Festival can be found at Bookies.com.

Grand National Betting Tips

Check out our horse racing betting tips each and every day on Bookies.com, and we will be sure to have the Grand National covered in detail on Saturday 5th April.