Grand National Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (Grand National Meeting)

We look at the Grand National ahead of the next renewal, a race contested over 4m2½f at Aintree during the Grand National Meeting to see which runners, trainers and jockeys have previously won the race and which trends you can use to find the winner of the Grand National.
Grand National Preview, Tips, Runners & Trends (Grand National Meeting)
Andy Powell
Andy Powell Content Editor

Horse Racing stats man, Andy has contributed to OLBG for 18 years - An Ipswich fan and F1 fanatic, he also contributes EFL football and Motor Sport opinion.

2025 Grand National Preview

First of all, remember to head over to our dedicated Grand National site which is packed full of information from detailed backgrounds on each of the forty Grand National runners, Grand National tips and tools galore to help you make a selection such as Grand National lucky dip and grand national winner predictor.

The race as we know it was first run in 1839 when Jem Mason rode Lottery to success, the race features some of the most famous fences in racing with Bechers Brook, Foinavon, the Canal Turn, Valentine's Brook and The Chair all challenging the runners. It's hard to talk about the Grand National without mentioning the great Red Rum, the only runner to win the race three times with wins in 1973, 74 & 77.

The race is a Premier Handicap which carries a prize fund of £1m with the winner receiving £500k, runners aged seven or older can enter the race which is run over a distance of four miles, two and a half furlongs during which a total of thirty fences will be jumped as the runners do two laps of the course.

Grand National Information:

To see which runners the OLBG racing tipsters are tipping throughout the card that includes this race, head over to the Aintree tips on the day of the race, do they agree with the runners on the trend shortlist or are they predicting other runners? We cover every race at the Aintree Grand National Meeting and below you can find links to all of the races for each of Thursday, Friday & Saturday.

How competitive is the Grand National market? When looking at the over-rounds for the last 20 renewals, the most competitive market was in 2004 when the race had an over-round of 134%. The race in 2015 was a race that was most in the bookie's favour with an over-round of 165%, whilst on average over the last 20 renewals of the Grand National, the over-round has been 150%, which means the bookie expects to pay out £100 for every £150 which is bet.

Grand National Trends:

Looking at the future form, is the winner worth following next time out? From the past 20 if you had followed the winner of the Grand National next time out then you would have backed a total of 0 winners. Backing all 18 runners who have been out since to win at SP next time out, would have returned an LSP of -18.00. Ahead of the 2025 Grand National why not head over to the racing predictions for tips on other races today?

When looking over the past 20 renewals, a time of 8:56.80 was set by Many Clouds in 2015, which is the quickest time over that period, the runner was trained by Oliver Sherwood and ridden by Leighton Aspell. The slowest winning time was set in 2006 when Numbersixvalverde won in a time of 9:41.00, booked to ride was Niall P Madden on this Martin Brassil trained runner.

These are the top three quickest-run Grand National over the last 20 renewals:

  1. Many Clouds (8:56.80) in 2015
  2. Tiger Roll (9:01.00) in 2019
  3. Ballabriggs (9:01.20) in 2011
What the expert says...
Four of the last six Grand National winners have come from the Cheltenham Festival, Tiger Roll in both 2018 & 2019 winning the cross country before winning the National whilst Noble Yeats (2022) finished 9th in the Ultima and Corach Rambler (2023) won the Ultima.

Andy Powell - Horse Racing Betting Expert - OLBG.com

Grand National 05 Apr @ 16:00 - AntePost
I Am Maximus 13.00
Gaillard Du Mesnil 21.00
Iroko 26.00
Corbetts Cross 26.00
Chianti Classico 26.00
Minella Cocooner 26.00
Inothewayurthinkin 26.00
Three Card Brag 26.00
Intense Raffles 26.00
Kandoo Kid 29.00

Grand National Past Winners

Here are the Grand National past winners for the last 10 renewals. Each row details the year of the race, the horse which won along with the age & weight of the horse. The trainer of the horse at the time of winning the Grand National as well as the jockey is also displayed along with the starting price the horse was sent off.

YearHorseInfo
2024
9:27.68
I Am Maximus (FR)
8yo 11-6 7/1F
Paul Townend
W P Mullins (IRE)
2023
9:10.62
Corach Rambler (IRE)
9yo 10-5 8/1F
Derek Fox
Lucinda Russell (GB)
2022
9:03.06
Noble Yeats (IRE)
7yo 10-10 50/1
Mr Sam Waley-Cohen
Emmet Mullins (IRE)
2021
9:15.42
Minella Times (IRE)
8yo 10-3 11/1
Rachael Blackmore
Henry De Bromhead (IRE)
2019
9:01.00
Tiger Roll (IRE)
9yo 11-5 4/1F
Davy Russell
Gordon Elliott (IRE)
2018
9:40.10
Tiger Roll (IRE)
8yo 10-13 10/1
Davy Russell
Gordon Elliott (IRE)
2017
9:03.50
One For Arthur (IRE)
8yo 10-11 14/1
Derek Fox
Lucinda Russell (GB)
2016
9:29.00
Rule The World (GB)
9yo 10-7 33/1
David Mullins
M F Morris (IRE)
2015
8:56.80
Many Clouds (IRE)
8yo 11-9 25/1
Leighton Aspell
Oliver Sherwood (GB)
2014
9:09.90
Pineau De Re (FR)
11yo 10-6 25/1
Leighton Aspell
Dr Richard Newland (GB)

Where have the winning runners come from?

Here are the countries where the winning trainers of the Grand National have been based:

  • GB: 11 winners with an additional 29 placings from 489 runners
  • IRE: 9 winners with an additional 31 placings from 280 runners
  • FR: 0 winners with an additional 0 placings from 17 runners

Grand National Trainer Statistics

The leading trainer in the Grand National over the last 20 renewals is Gordon Elliott who has won the race three times with those three winners coming from Silver Birch (2007) and Tiger Roll (2018 & 2019). Other trainers who have recorded multiple wins in the Grand National are W P Mullins (2 wins) and Lucinda Russell (2 wins). Multiple trainers have not had the best of times over the last 20 renewals in the Grand National, Nigel Twiston-Davies (0-35), Philip Hobbs (0-19), Nicky Henderson (0-18), Peter Bowen (0-12), T M Walsh (0-11), Tom George (0-10), Evan Williams (0-10), Kim Bailey (0-10) and Alan King (0-10) have all failed to produce a single winner despite sending multiple runners to the race.

Here are some of the top Grand National trainer statistics over the last 20 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):

TrainerR-W-PWinEW
Gordon Elliott46-3-8+4.00+5.63
W P Mullins59-2-8-43.00-36.10
Lucinda Russell7-2-2+17.00+8.75
Paul Nicholls56-1-4-22.00-25.62
David Pipe36-1-2-28.00-28.37
Jonjo O'Neill33-1-6-22.00-9.99
Venetia Williams17-1-1+84.00+46.50
Donald McCain17-1-1-2.00-7.25
Henry De Bromhead15-1-3-3.00+9.88
M F Morris11-1-1+23.00+10.63

Grand National Jockey Statistics

The leading jockey in the Grand National over the last 20 renewals is Derek Fox who has won the race two times with those two winners coming from One For Arthur (2017) and Corach Rambler (2023). Multiple jockeys have not had the best of times over the last 20 renewals in the Grand National, Sam Twiston-Davies (0-13), Mark Walsh (0-12), Paddy Brennan (0-11), Richie McLernon (0-10) and Nick Scholfield (0-10) have all failed to produce a single winner despite sending multiple rides to the race.

Here are some of the top Grand National jockey statistics over the last 20 renewals (R = Runners, W = Winners, P = Places including winners, Win LSP is based on 1pt Win and EW LSP is based on 0.5pt Win & 0.5pt Place):

JockeyR-W-PWinEW
Derek Fox5-2-2+19.00+10.75
Daryl Jacob13-1-2+21.00+21.63
Paul Townend13-1-2-5.00-5.87
Graham Lee7-1-1+10.00+4.00
Rachael Blackmore6-1-2+6.00+5.88
Ryan Mania5-1-1+62.00+37.25
Sam Twiston-Davies13-0-0-13.00-13.00
Mark Walsh12-0-2-12.00-9.12
Paddy Brennan11-0-1-11.00-7.37
Nick Scholfield10-0-2-10.00-3.62

Grand National Trend Analysis

The trend factor which had produced 10+ winners and shows the best LSP, an LSP of +28.00 is when runners ran on Soft ground last time out. The worst performing factor that has failed to produce a single winner is when runners had 0 places in the past year, when backing these the trend shows a record of 0-167.

The course which has produced the most winners of the Grand National is Cheltenham, there has been a total number of 8 winners of this race who ran at Cheltenham last time out.

The race is open to both sexes with the Male runners having produced a total of 20 winners from a total of 771 runners whilst the Female runners have produced 0 winners from a total of 15 runners.

Looking over the past renewals, these are the stallions whose offspring have produced multiple winners of the Grand National:

  • Authorized (3 Wins)
  • Old Vic (2 Wins)

These are the stallions whose offspring have not produced a winner of the Grand National despite multiple attempts:

  • Flemensfirth (0 Wins from 20 runners)
  • Accordion (0 Wins from 14 runners)
  • Kings Theatre (0 Wins from 14 runners)
  • Network (0 Wins from 13 runners)
  • Shantou (0 Wins from 13 runners)

Looking at the winning odds over the last 20 renewals, the biggest-priced winner was Mon Mome in 2009, winning for Venetia Williams at odds of 100/1 under the guidance of Liam Treadwell. Looking at the runners at the head of the market over the last 20 renewals there have been 6 winning favourites in the race. Remember to bookmark the best racing tipsters page so you can get easy access to the best OLBG racing tipsters.

Schedule for Thursday at the Aintree Grand National Meeting

The three-day Grand National meeting kicks off on Thursday with four Grade 1 events on the seven-race card which features both the Aintree Hurdle and the Bowl Chase.

RaceLast WinnerInfo
13:45 Aintree
Manifesto Novices Chase
Il Etait Temps (FR)
6yo - 3/1
W P Mullins
Paul Townend
14:20 Aintree
Anniversary 4YO Juvenile Hurdle
Sir Gino (FR)
4yo - 11/10
Nicky Henderson
Nico de Boinville
14:55 Aintree
Bowl Chase
Gerri Colombe (FR)
8yo - 9/4
Gordon Elliott
Jack Kennedy
15:30 Aintree
Aintree Hurdle
Impaire Et Passe (FR)
6yo - 1/1
W P Mullins
Paul Townend
16:05 Aintree
Foxhunters Chase
Its On The Line (IRE)
7yo - 3/1
Emmet Mullins
Mr Derek O'Connor
16:40 Aintree
Red Rum Handicap Chase
Sans Bruit (FR)
6yo - 5/1
Paul Nicholls
Bryony Frost
17:15 Aintree
Nickel Coin Mares Bumper
Diva Luna (IRE)
5yo - 13/2
Ben Pauling
Kielan Woods

Schedule for Friday at the Aintree Grand National Meeting

Day 2 of the Grand National meeting is Ladies Day or Fabulous Friday, the highlights on the track being the Melling Chase plus there is the Topham Chase over the Grand National fences.

RaceLast WinnerInfo
13:45 Aintree
Mildmay Novices Chase
Inothewayurthinkin (IRE)
6yo - 6/4
Gavin Cromwell
Mark Walsh
14:20 Aintree
William Hill National Festival Handicap Hurdle
Kateira (GB)
7yo - 5/1
Dan Skelton
Harry Skelton
14:55 Aintree
Top Novices Hurdle
Mystical Power (IRE)
5yo - 11/10
W P Mullins
Mark Walsh
15:30 Aintree
Melling Chase
Jonbon (FR)
8yo - 11/10
Nicky Henderson
Nico de Boinville
16:05 Aintree
Topham Chase
Arizona Cardinal (GB)
8yo - 20/1
Stuart Edmunds
Ciaran Gethings
16:40 Aintree
Sefton Novices Hurdle
Dancing City (FR)
7yo - 4/1
W P Mullins
Paul Townend
17:15 Aintree
Alder Hey Handicap Hurdle
El Jefe (IRE)
7yo - 40/1
Andrew Hamilton
Ben Smith

Schedule for Saturday at the Aintree Grand National Meeting

The Grand National is obviously the showpiece of the Aintree meeting and day 3 also includes three Grade 1 events, the feature of those being the Liverpool Hurdle.

RaceLast WinnerInfo
13:20 Aintree
Bridle Road Handicap Hurdle
Gwennie May Boy (IRE)
6yo - 9/2
Dan Skelton
Charlie Todd
13:55 Aintree
Mersey Novices Hurdle
Brighterdaysahead (FR)
5yo - 6/5
Gordon Elliott
Jack Kennedy
14:30 Aintree
William Hill National Festival Handicap Chase
Cruz Control (FR)
7yo - 9/1
Tom Lacey
Stan Sheppard
15:05 Aintree
Liverpool Hurdle
Strong Leader (GB)
7yo - 8/1
Olly Murphy
Sean Bowen
16:00 Aintree
Grand National
I Am Maximus (FR)
8yo - 7/1
W P Mullins
Paul Townend
17:00 Aintree
Maghull Novices Chase
Found A Fifty (IRE)
7yo - 11/8
Gordon Elliott
Jack Kennedy
17:35 Aintree
Champion Standard Open NH Flat Race
Horaces Pearl (FR)
6yo - 14/1
Fergal O'Brien
Connor Brace

Article Contributor Information

We are blessed with an excellent team of specialists and experts at OLBG. Contributing to creating and maintaining this Grand National Preview are at hand, Andy and Darren. They both work on the Horse racing tips team team looking after the tipsters and managing the tips settlement, whilst also creating and managing all of the horse racing event previews for National Hunt Racing.

Darren Brett

Darren Brett

Tipster Competition Manager

Darren has worked in the horse racing industry for decades bringing to OLBG for the last 20 years a wealth of knowledge, creating much of our content on these sports. Darren also manages our Grand National Guide and is the go-to font of knowledge for the world's greatest steeplechase.
Andy Powell

Andy Powell

Content Editor

Andy, a seasoned horse racing expert with over 15 years of experience, possesses a comprehensive understanding of the sport, from delving into complex statistical data for jump racing in the UK and Ireland to crafting insightful national hunt racing blogs for OLBG.

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