2025 Grand National Festival Preview: Races, Odds, Favourites and More

Now, just a few weeks on from the Cheltenham festival, we are at the Grand National, which is the last major jumps festival of the season in the United Kingdom. So, let's end on a high!

Day 1: Opening Day - Preview

The opening day of Aintree feels a bit like the beginning of the end, as it is the last major jumps meeting in the UK calendar of this season. However, that will not dampen spirits, given the days of racing ahead.

Day 1, as expected, is a fantastic fixture, with several top-class horses and races set to take to the track. There are plenty of decent betting opportunities for us to take advantage of too, so without further ado, let's take a look at each race.

The opening day starts with the EBC Group Manifesto Novices' Chase, which is set to be a fantastic race, with Arkle winner Jango Baie set to take on 8 rivals over 2 miles and 4 furlongs. At present, the market is quite open, with no one tearing away as a clear favourite, however, the market may change as we get closer.

It can certainly be argued that the current favourite was Nico De Boinville's best run of the festival, so he may hope for similar on the opening day of Aintree.

Following that race is the Boodles Anniversary 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle, which is run over 2 miles and 1 furlong. After Tuesday's declarations, there are currently 13 set to take to the field, and once again, the market is rather open.

Puturhandstogether currently takes the favour of the punters, sitting at 3/1, but Live Conti and Naturally Nimble have been strong options in the past few days, as the festival has crept up on us.

At 2:55, we have the Brooklands Golden Miller Chronograph Bowl Chase, which looks to be a really good race in the making, and after declarations, eight are set to line up for the 3-mile race.

The market is quite short here at the time of writing, with Grey Dawning and Spillane's Tower both sitting around the 3/1 mark; however, there are still a number of horses below 10/1, and even the least preferred horse in the race - The Real Whacker at 25/1 - is not a terrible option to back.

Then, we have Day 1's big race: The William Hill Aintree Hurdle. This is shaping up to be one of the races of the season, even with BrighterDaysAhead dropping out, and this is due to two horses preparing to face one another this season.

Those two are Constitution Hill and Lossiemouth. The Nicky Henderson horse comes into this race as favourite, despite his fall at Cheltenham, but punters are not as confident on it, with Lossiemouth still providing a bit of competition in the market at 7/4.

Following a race of that quality is always going to be a task, but the Randox Foxhunters' Open Hunters' Chase is scheduled next, and once again, the market is yet to really pick an out-and-out favourite.

Prices, at the time of writing, are very mixed, with the favourite priced at 5/1 currently in some places, with a few 11/2 shouts following after.

Number six on the card is the Close Brothers Red Rum Handicap Chase, which is a race that I'm personally very much looking forward to. Once again, the market is really wide, but there are a number of really exciting horses in this race.

The market leaders are currently battling it out at 7/1, with three more horses in the 10/1-14/1 bracket, proving that there is a lot still to be decided in this 2-mile race. Definitely a lot of value there.

Rounding off Day 1 is the Goffs Nickel Coin Mares' Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race at 5:15. Whilst it may not be the highest quality race of the day, there could certainly be some opportunities to take advantage of.

Day 2: Ladies Wednesday - Preview

As is expected, Day 2 hosts another fantastic card, with some great racing on the day. However, a lot of the focus will be on the fashion side of things, with the day notorious for its outfits.

For us, though, the focus is strictly on the horses!

We start with the Huyton Asphalt Franny Blennerhassett Memorial Mildmay Novices’ Steeple Chase, which is run over 3 miles 1 furlong, and right now, it is shaping up to be a fantastic opener for the day.

The favourite, Handstands, is currently best priced in the market at 15/8, but there are a number of fantastic horses also entered into the race, such as Caldwell Potter, who ran in a great race at Cheltenham last month.

Following shortly after that is the William Hill Handicap Hurdle, which is run over 2 miles and 4 furlongs. At the time of writing this, there are more than 40 horses entered into the race, and the favourite stands at 10/1, meaning there may be a few antepost opportunities to take advantage of, ahead of the Friday.

Number 3 of the day is the TrustATrader Top Novices' Hurdle, and this is a race which I am really looking forward to, I must admit. Although declarations still need to be made, a number of my Cheltenham novice interests are set to run in this race, which opens up a nice rematch.

Romeo Coolio currently leads the betting market, just above evens, but with Tripoli Flyer, Salvator Mundi and Diva Luna all looking likely to be entered, I do not think it will be the easiest race in the world for him.

Headlining Ladies Day is probably the My Pension Expert Melling Chase, which gives Jonbon a chance to get back to winning ways after a poor run at Cheltenham. The Nicky Henderson horse is the expected favourite right now at 4/6.

Heart Wood, El Fabiolo and Gaelic Warrior are probably the biggest threats on the market currently, so it is certainly not a guarantee.

With a prize of more than £84,000, the Randox Supporting Prostate Cancer UK Topham Handicap Chase looks to be a fiercely contested race over 2 miles and 5 furlongs, especially with 42 entered at present.

Betting begins at 8/1 with James Du Berlais, trained by Willie Mullins, and there are some huge prices available across the field, so there is definitely a chance at some value, perhaps even on the day.

The penultimate race of the day is a Novices' Hurdle race sponsored by Oddschecker, over a huge 3 miles and a half. Once again, I am quite interested in this race, with a number of interesting novices set to run.

Finally, we have the Hallgarten And Novum Wines Handicap Hurdle and once again, the market is really open with the favourite sitting at 6/1 at present.

Day 3: Grand National Day - Preview

The day we have been building to all festival is the Grand National Day, and this is when the showpiece race takes place. However, this is not the only action to be excited about.

We start with the William Hill Top Price Guarantee Handicap Hurdle. With a distance of over 3 and a half miles, there are currently 45 horses entered into the race, though there will be a max of 22 after declarations.

Mr Hope Street currently leads the market at 6/1, but there are quite a few horses following around the 10/1 mark, showing that there could be some E/W value in the market.

Following that, we have the Turners Mersey Novices' Hurdle, which seems to be a really open race once again. Over 2m4f, the market is really wide at present with the favourite Lulamba still being available at 5/1 after Nicky Henderson didn't declare him for the opening day.

There are a few really nice novices in this race, so it will be intriguing to see which horses line up for this race, with many owners still yet to pick which races they want their chances to go for.

At 2:30, we have the William Hill Handicap Chase, which is again shaping up to be a really nice race. However, there is a clear favourite right now with Myretown priced at 4/1 with some bookies.

Other options follow at 10/1 being the shortest option, so it may be worth getting on the higher prices, even if you are just looking for some E/W value.

A huge race follows that, with Teahupoo looking to return with a win after his Cheltenham loss in the Ivy Liverpool Hurdle, which is run over 3 and a half miles.

Priced at 2/1, it will be interesting to see how much shorter the horse gets before the start of the race, if any at all, with punters potentially losing confidence after Cheltenham.

Then, we have the big one, the race which the festival is named after, the Grand National. For many, this is the biggest race of the season, and there have already been so many changes on the market.

Stumptown is currently the market leader, but there has been a lot of backing for Iroko and Hewick in recent weeks. You will certainly have to keep your eyes peeled for our guides on the day!

It is a really difficult task to follow that race, but L'Eau du Sud and Only By Night are set to fight it out in the Rosconn Group Maghull Novices' Chase at 5:00.

The pair are currently touching the evens mark, and both will look to perform better than they did at Cheltenham.

Finally, wrapping up the festival, we have the Weatherbys nhstallions.co.uk Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race. A 20-horse race, the market is yet to really close itself off. So, there are certainly some big chances for value.