Grand National Betting Guide 2026 - How To Pick A Winner in the Grand National

By Adam Kenny

Apr 2nd, 2026 10:54 AM EDT

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, with its iconic fences capturing the true essence of jump racing for purists and new fans alike - meaning horse racing betting sites are abuzz all week leading up to it.

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.

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When Is The 2026 Aintree Grand National?

The Grand National will take place at Aintree on 11th April 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 9th April and lasts for three days in total, with 21 races across the three days. It provides a perfect chance for those who won at the Cheltenham Festival to double up or those who missed out to take revenge. 

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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, 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 you took it at it. It's worth considering best odds guaranteed bookies as they will ensure you get the best price if the starting price is longer than the odds you initially placed the bet at.

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

Select two horses in the race to finish first and second. It’s incredibly difficult to land this at the best of times but especially so in this size of 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. 

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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 - making it 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.

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Choosing a Grand National Betting Site and Offer

The best £5 deposit betting sites 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 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.

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Sites 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 all ensures there are no delays with withdrawals or future deposits and allows 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, allowing you to withdraw all or some of the balance using the same payment method you used to fund your account.

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 especially on Grand National day.

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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 trends of the Grand National 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 - proving how rare these big-price success are. 

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. 2025 Grand National winner Nick Rockett was a 33/1 shot.

Don’t necessarily be put off by a big price. If the horse fits some of the trends, it could still be a good bet.

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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.

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Grand National Entries, Runners and Riders

The entries for the Grand National are confirmed only a couple of days in advance, along with the weights, numbers and colours they will carry in the race. That said, you can still bet on it further out if you have one that you really fancy.

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 few favourites for the 2026 Grand National at the time of writing, with four horses all very close at many of the best betting sites.

2024 winner I Am Maximus is current favourite at around 8/1 but hasn't won any race since claiming victory here two years ago, although he was runner-up in last year's renewal, whilst fellow Willie Mullins horse Grangeclare West is close behind in the odds after finishing third in the 2025 Grand National.

After those comes a pair of Greenall Guerriero horses in the form of Jagwar and Iroko. Jagwar enjoyed success at the Cheltenham Festival last year when he won the Plate but couldn't replicate that as he fell just short in the Ultima this time around.

Iroko went off as favourite in the Grand National last year and finished a very respectable fourth.

Who Won the 2025 Grand National?

The 2025 Grand National was won by Nick Rockett at odds of 33/1. Trained by Willie Mullins in Ireland, the outsider was ridden home by Willie's son Patrick and saw off I Am Maximus and Iroko - the top two in the betting - down the home stretch.

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 11th April.

About the Author

Adam Kenny

More About Adam

Adam has worked in online betting for pretty much his entire adult life. Having spent over a decade working for some of the biggest betting sites and online casinos in their operations and content teams, NFL, soccer and horse racing are Adam's main focuses, but there's always room for him to cast his eye over a new slot game or casino.

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