Grand National 2019 Preview

Justin Legg

29 Mar 2019

Updated: 19 Nov 2023

The Grand National is the biggest horse race of the year with a £1,000,000 total prize fund - and it’s not just big in the UK. An estimated 600 million people across the world will watch the race, and many will also have a flutter. The race has been run annually since 1839 and has become a fixture in many people's calendar ever since. Take a read through the following preview to see some of the key facts and figures on this year's race.


The Key Facts

  • The Grand National race is part of the wider Aintree Festival. This runs over 3 days from Thursday 4th to Saturday 6th April. Although the bookie offers will focus mainly on the big race, we should also see plenty of offers elsewhere in the lead up to the big one!
  • The Grand National takes place at 5:15pm on Saturday 6th April
  • ITV will broadcast the Grand National (and the festival) live and “free to air”. Take a look at the full viewing guide below for alternative options
  • Horses jump over 30 fences (2 laps) and the course is 4 miles 514 yards (6.907 km) long
  • A maximum of 40 horses will race (with a reserve list of 4). The runners will be confirmed 48 hours prior to the race - you can find an up-to-date list here
  • Tiger Roll was last year’s winner and will be looking to become the first horse since Red Rum (1974) to win back-to-back Grand Nationals
  • Favourites account for 15% of the winners and there have been plenty of horses at huge odds to win - most recently Auroras Encore 66-1 (2013) and Mon Mome (2009) at a whopping 100-1!

Matched Betting & The Grand National

Watching the Grand National is always exciting but it is even more exciting if you are matched betting. Rather than just taking a punt based on which horse name you like or what colour the jockey is wearing; matched betting gives you the ability to actually lock-in a profit regardless of the outcome of the race. The good thing about the Aintree Festival, in terms of matched betting, is that a lot of bookies will have special offers available just for the festival. This means there is more money to be made than usual.

Click below to watch the video.


Where Can I Watch?

ITV secured the broadcasting rights to screen the Grand National, alongside other horse racing events, in 2017 in a 4 year deal worth around £30 million. If you are based in the UK, and have a TV licence, you will be able to watch the race on ITV on your telly. There are also a number of streaming options by which you can watch the race. You can stream the race on the ITV website or ITV Player App, but you will also find a number of bookies will also stream the race:

A selected sample are:


Did You Know?

  • The first 5 Grand Nationals included a jump that was a stone wall!
  • The 1929 race featured 66 horses racing, compared to the 40 nowadays
  • Conversely, the smallest field was just 10 in 1883
  • Mr Frisk (1990) holds the record for the fastest time (for a winner) 8 minutes 47.8 seconds
  • The 1839 winner Lottery holds the slowest time (for a winner) 14 minutes 53 seconds
  • The smallest number of finishers for the race is just 2 in 1928 with the most finshers 23 in 1984
  • The tallest, and broadest, fence is “The Chair” at 5ft 3ins
  • Red Rum is the most successful horse of all time, winning the race 3 times - 1973, 1974 and 1977

Special Offer

To celebrate the upcoming Grand National (and Aintree Festival) we are running a promotion where you can get full platinum access for 14 days for only £1! For this price you will gain full access to all of our guides, all of our offers, all of our software and our industry leading forum for 2 whole weeks! That equates to just over 7 pence per day!

Please Click Here To Get 14 Days For Only £1

Already A Member?

If you’re a Platinum member and you know someone who would like to earn a bit of extra money, you can grab your referral code here and pass it on - and we’ll give you £10.

If you would like to become a free trial member to get accustomed to the process before the festival, you can sign up here for free.

We hope you have a very profitable Grand National and Aintree Festival!


For more info on what matched betting is, check out these articles: