Betting can be very lucrative, but when it comes to Grand National Betting, the competition is even more profitable as the prize fund was listed at £975,000 for 2013. Even fans who do not regularly participate in horse racing betting usually place a Grand National bet.
Aintree has been the home of the Grand National since its first running in 1839 and ironically the winner of the first race was named Lottery. Changes have been made to the course and the fences over the years but essentially the race still remains the one of the toughest tests of horse and rider in the world. Forty horses line up each year and around two thirds of the field will not complete the race, which is four and a half miles long and has 30 fences to negotiate.
The Grand National is one of the most thrilling spectacles in horse racing and something that racing fans, as well as part-time punters, all look forward to. The race, which has over 180 years of history during which legends like Red Rum and Tiger Roll have had their triumphant moments, is something unique. It’s deemed the ultimate test of endurance, and with the next edition on the horizon, the ante-post betting markets for it are taking shape.
The Grand National is a Premier Handicap race run at Aintree Racecourse on Merseyside. It’s contested over a distance of 4 miles and 514 yards and features 30 fences. Horses have to be at least seven years old to enter, along with holding a certain minimum rating and having previously placed in a chase of at least 2 miles 7 1⁄2 furlongs. It’s a gruelling test for horses and jockeys and is a big highlight of the National Hunt season in the Spring.
I Am Maximums, trained by Willie Mullins, took the win in last year’s Grand National. The trainer confirmed that he is sending him back for a defence in the Spring and he is naturally expected to be a big player thanks to that winning experience over the National fences. I Am Maximus has been heading up the Grand National ante-post odds as a firm favourite for a repeat success.
The Thomas Gibney-trained Intense Raffles, winner of the 2024 Irish Grand National, has been showing well in the ante-post betting market after the big score at Fairyhouse. Kim Bailey’s Chianti Classico has scored a success at the Cheltenham Festival in each of the last two years, and the 7-year-old could tackle the Grand National for the first time with a good chase record behind him.
Corbetts Cross, Monty’s Star, Kitty’s Light and Inothewayurthinkin are among a competitive pack that will bring credentials to the big race if they take up an entry.
The latest renewal of the Grand National will be run on April 5th, 2025, with a maximum of 34 entries ready to take their places. But only one can win, of course, and looking for clues in form throughout the National Hunt season can help bettors with their picks.
Maybe a horse has performed well in the Trophy Handicap Chase or the Cross Country Chase at the Cheltenham Festival the previous month and has raised their claims for a strong performance at Aintree. Form at distance is everything for the Grand National and seven of the last eleven winners had had at least one previous run at Aintree.
Eight of the last eleven winners had won at least once over a distance of three miles or more, before scoring the Grand National. Each of the last eleven Grand National winners had run at least three times during the season, with nine of those winning at least one fixture.
Three of the last five National winners have been a favourite/joint-favourite, with all but one of the last seven winners getting home first at a price no bigger than 14/1. The exception in that sequence was 2022 winner Noble Yeats, who scored a stunning 50/1 success as a 7-year-old, the only winner of that age in the last decade.
The Grand National ante-post market takes a long view of the big fixture, well ahead of the race. That creates space for planning and watching the form of the leading contenders throughout the season, or maybe tracking a potential outsider to stun the field, like the 2009 winner Mon Mome did from 100/1. Follow all the latest 2025 Grand National betting odds here at 888Sport right up to the off on April 5th, 2025.
| Time | Thursday 7 April to Saturday 9 April 2022 |
| Location | Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool |
| Length | 4 miles |
| Number of Jumps | 16 fences |
| Number of Horses | 40 horses |
| Previous Jockey Won | Rachael Blackmore |
| Previous Horse Winner | Minella Times |