Grand National Festival 2023: Everything you need to know in our must-see guide

• Day-by-Day schedule for the Grand National Festival

• Feature races for each day and ante-post betting

• Where to watch and how to bet

• Ante-post tips for Aintree

• Check out our Aintree Grand National Hub

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The 2023 Grand National Festival

The Aintree Grand National Festival is a three-day horse racing meeting regarded as one of the highlights in the National Hunt calendar that culminates with the most famouse steeplechase in the world, the Grand National.

It takes place annually in the middle of April at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, with this year's Grand National Festival commencing on Thursday 13 April and lasting for three days up to Saturday 15 April.

There are 21 Aintree races in total with each of the three days consisting of seven races, with the first race on each day starting at 13:45 and the final race due to commence at 17:15. on Thursday and Friday and at 18:20 on Saturday.

The feature race of the meeting, the 2023 Aintree Grand National, is due off at 17:15 on Saturday.

How to watch the Grand National Festival

ITV Racing will show five races each day with their coverage starting on ITV1 after the first race of the day and finishing before the final race of the day.

The Grand National itself will be shown live on ITV1 at 17:15 on Saturday 15 April.

Alternatvely, every race of the festival can be watched live on Racing UK, a subscription paid service, or if you're out and about and have a Betfair account you can watch every single race for free by logging into your account on either laptop, tablet or mobile.

The 2023 Grand National Festival HUB

If you're looking for tips for a specific day or to back ante-post, visit our Grand National HUB where you'll find insight, previews, tipping columns and much more in the lead up to, and during the 2023 Grand National Festival.

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Grand National Festival Day-by-Day Schedule

• Day 1 - Thursday 13 April - Opening Day
• Day 2 - Friday 14 April - Ladies Day
• Day 3 - Saturday 15 April - Grand National Day

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Day 1 Races - Opening Day

*Thursday's feature races:

13:45 - 2m4f Novices' Chase (Grade 1)
14:20 - 2m1f 4yo Juvenile Hurdle (Grade 1)
14:55 - 3m1f Aintree Bowl (Grade 1)
15:30 - 2m4f Aintree Hurdle (Grade 1)
17:15 - 2m1f Mares' NH Flat Race(Grade2)

Unlike last month's Cheltenham Festival there is no early entry stage for most of the Grand National Festival's races, so we won't know which horses are likely to run until the five-day declaration stage before the final fields are declared at the 48-hour stage.

However, the Betfair Sportsbook have priced up a couple of races on each day for ante-post betting fans and without doubt the race of interest on day one is the Grade 1 Aintree Bowl at 14:55.

The 2/1 ante-post favourite is the extremely talented, multiple Grade 1 winner Shishkin, stepping up in trip from 2m just a few starts ago and a running-on second in the 2m5f Ryanair Chase at the Cheltenham Festival.

On his day he is excellent, but he is becoming very unreliable and is a horse that can put in some poor jumps as well as hit a few flats spots during a race.

Betfair Ambassador Paul Nicholls will be sending a strong team of horses to Aintree and he will have an excellent chance of landing this prize with Gold Cup runner-up Bravemansgame.

With the likes of A Plus Tard, Ahoy Senor and Conflated re-opposing from the Gold Cup we're set for a fascinating renewal.

Sadly, from a betting perspective, the Grade 1 Aintree Hurdle at 15:30 looks set to be far from competitive with the Champion Hurdle winner and the quite brilliant Constitution Hill stepping up to 2m4f.

His early quote of 1/7 tells you all you need to know about who is expected to win this race.

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Day 2 Races - Ladies Day

*Friday's feature races:

13:45 - 3m1f Novices' Chase (Grade 1)
14:55 - 2m Top Novices' Hurdle (Grade 1)
15:30 - 2m4f Marsh Chase (Grade 1)
16:05 - 2m5f Topham Handicap Chase
16:40 - 3m1f Sefton Novices' Hurdle (Grade 1)

Friday's highlight is the Grade 1 Marsh Chase at 15:30 with the front two in the market - Pic D'Orhy at 7/4 and Fakir Doudairies at 5/2 - being kept fresh for this race by missing the Cheltenham Festival.

Paul Nicholls could easily land this prize also, as not only does he train the favourite but he also trains the third favourite Hitman 4/1 who ran an excellent race at Cheltenham last month, finishing third in the Ryanair Chase.

The Topham Handicap Chase at 16:05 is a chance to watch a race that is run over the Grand National course, and it's a contest that is fiercely competitive as evidenced by the Betfair Sportsbook going 7/1 the field in their ante-post betting.

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Day 3 Races - Grand National Day

*Saturday's feature races:

13:45 - 2m Novices' Chase (Grade 1)
15:00 - 2m4f Novices' Hurdle (Grade 1)
15:35 - 3m1f Liverpool Hurdle (Grade 1)
17:15 - 4m2f Grand National Handicap Chase
18:20 - 2m1f NH Flate Race (Grade 2)

We have three Grade 1 contests in the build up to the feature race of the meeting witht the Liverpool Hurdle at 15:35 looking an excellent renewal that will see the first five home in last month's Stayers' Hurdle at Cheltenham potentially lining up again.

However, none of those five head the market with that accolade going to Maries Rock at 11/4, ahead of Stayer's Hurdle third Teahupoo at 10/3 and Champ at 5/1.

NON-RUNNER MONEY BACK (NRMB) on the Grand National

It's then time for the big one, the 2023 Grand National at 17:15 where a maximum field of 40 will go to post for the 4m2f contest.

As you would expect for such a large field it's an ultra competitive race, however Corach Rambler at 11/2 is one of the shortest-priced ante-post favourites in recent times.

He warmed up perfectly for this race with a strong-finishing win in the Ultima Handicap Chase at Cheltenham last month, and he's followed in the market by last year's Grand National winner Noble Yeats at 8/1.

But it's then 10/1 and above the rest so whatever you fancy you know you'll be getting a decent pay-out should your horse win, and you can bet now on the Betfair Sportsbook safe in the knowledge that should your horse not make the final field of 40, or become a non-runner at any stage between now and the race, then you'll get your money back.

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Betting on the Grand National Festival

There are many ways you can bet on the 2023 Grand National Festival, either on the Betfair Exchange or on the Betfair Sportsbook, with the most popular and traditional way being to back on individual races via either win or each-way bets.

Six of the 2023 Grand National Festival races are now priced up for ante-post purposes, both on the Exchange and Sportsbook, with anyone doing so now on the latter platform receiving the Non Runner Money Back concession if having an early bet on the Grand National itself.

The 'day of the race' markets typically appear around 48 hours before racing should you want to wait until the final declarations (runners and riders) are known.

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Betfair Safer Gambling: A range of tools to help

Betfair is committed to safer gambling and here you can find out about the tools that help you set your budget, keep track of your spend, take a break when you need it, and more. Click here for full details.

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And you don't just have to back singles. You can include more than one selection in what is called a multiple.

A selection in two different races combined in a multiple is called a double, three races it's a treble, and four or more races is often referred to as an acca (accumulator).

Closer to the races Betfair will be enhancing odds on certain horses, enhancing the place terms for each-way betting on some races (6 places paid instead of 4 for example), and providing plenty of 'specials' which can include a boosted price for a jockey to ride 2+ winners, or a horse to win by over 5 lengths, among many other specials.

Betfair Sportsbook Specials can be found here, while Exchange Specials can be found here.

Betting Guides:

For more on how to bet on the Betfair Exchange, check out our comprehensive Betting Guides:

Beginner or Advanced

Grand National Tips and Runner-by-Runner Guide

If it's ante-post tips you're looking for then we have plenty on site already, including Tony Calvin's early look at some of the priced-up races here.

Tony - our resident tipster known for finding big-price winners - also took an extensive look at the Grand National a few weeks ago, and perhaps surprisingly, his main fancy is at the head of the market.

You can read Tony's Grand National preview here.

Horses going straight to Aintree having raced at the Cheltenham Festival generally have a bad record, but that was when there was only a three week gap between both festivals. It could well be different this year with around four and a half weeks being the gap for most of the horses going to Aintree having run at Cheltenham.

With this in mind, I took a look at some of the key horses expected to turn up at the Grand National Festival having raced at the Cheltenham Festival, and you can read that here.

For many people, the Grand National is the only race they will have a bet on all year, and they use all sorts of methods to pick their horses whether it be namesakes, favourite colours, or topical horses.

But if you're looking for an expert guide to this year's runners, then check out Daryl Carter's superb runner-by-runner Grand National guide.

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*You can follow me on Twitter @MikkyMo73