AintreeRacecourseCourse guide
Flat, left-handed and built round 16 spruce fences. Aintree stages the Grand National every April: two laps, 30 jumps and the longest run-in in the sport.
The course, piece by piece
It is Grand National day and the field turns away from the stands to start the second lap. Match each number to the plan above. The slate band is the Melling Road and the pale band is the canal.
- 1
- The winning post. The Grand National ends here, in front of the stands.
- 2
- The Elbow. The run-in is the stretch from the last fence to the post. At Aintree it is 494 yards and it is not straight. Runners bear right at the Elbow to go round The Chair, then drive for the line.
- 3
- Becher’s Brook. Fence 6 on the first lap and fence 22 on the second. The ground on the landing side is lower than the take-off side, so a horse meets a drop it cannot see.
- 4
- Foinavon. Fence 7 and fence 23. It is named after the 100/1 winner who missed a pile-up here in 1967.
- 5
- The Canal Turn. Fence 8 and fence 24. The field must turn left through 90 degrees as soon as it lands.
- 6
- Valentine’s Brook. Fence 9 and fence 25, the first of four fences along the canal side. It has a brook on the landing side.
- 7
- The Chair. Fence 15, the tallest on the course at 5ft 2in, with a ditch in front of it. It is jumped on the first lap only.
- 8
- The Water Jump. Fence 16, the lowest at 2ft 6in, with water on the landing side. It is also jumped once.
The National course at a glance
The numbers a punter needs before reading the form.
| Direction | Left-handed |
| Shape | Close to a triangle, and flat |
| One circuit | About 2m 2f |
| Fences on the course | 16 (14 jumped twice) |
| Grand National | About 4m 2½f, 30 fences |
| Maximum field | 34 runners |
| Run-in | 494 yards |
| First Grand National | 1839 |
The fences, measured
The camera swings to Becher’s Brook and the crowd goes quiet. Six of the 16 fences have names. Here they are in the order the field meets them, drawn to the same scale.
- A
- Becher’s Brook, 4ft 10in. The landing side sits between six and ten inches lower than the take-off side.
- B
- Foinavon, 4ft 6in. A plain fence, which means one with no ditch or water.
- C
- The Canal Turn, 5ft. The test here is the sharp left turn straight after it.
- D
- Valentine’s Brook, 5ft. There is a brook 5ft 6in wide on the landing side.
- E
- The Chair, 5ft 2in. An open ditch, which means a fence with a ditch on the take-off side. The landing side is higher than the take-off side.
- F
- The Water Jump, 2ft 6in. Low to jump but long to clear, because of the water behind it.
Why it matters for a bet. Aintree dresses these fences in spruce, and many good chasers have never jumped one. A horse who has already been round here has answered a question the others have not.
What wins here
Two fences from home the leader is still ten lengths clear, and half the country thinks the race is over. It often is not. The National sets three tests that most races never ask.
Stamina first
No jumps race in Britain is longer than the Grand National. A horse who has won over three miles has not proved it will last another mile and a quarter. Look in the racing form for strong finishes over long trips.
Sound jumping
There are 30 fences and a big field around every one. Form letters such as F for fell and U for unseated rider are a warning in any chase. They count for more over this many fences.
Weight
The National is a handicap, which means the better horses carry more weight to even out the field. Every extra pound is felt on a run-in of 494 yards.
A £10 each-way example. Say your horse is 20/1 for the Grand National. Standard terms for a handicap this size pay four places at a quarter of the odds. Your stake is £20, because each way is two bets. If it wins you get £270 back. If it finishes second, third or fourth you get £60 back. Many bookmakers pay extra places on the National, often at a fifth of the odds, which would make that £50. Try your own numbers.
Aintree in depth
By Ryan Edwards. The tape goes up, 34 horses charge at the first fence and about nine minutes later one of them is famous. This is what happens in between.
How the race unfolds
The field lines up for a standing start, which means the horses must be still when the tape rises. They cross the Melling Road and meet the first fence soon after. That fence was moved 60 yards closer to the start in 2024 to slow the early pace.
Six fences come in a line, ending with Becher’s Brook. Then the course bends left past Foinavon to the Canal Turn. From there the field runs back beside the canal over four more fences, with Valentine’s Brook the first of them.
The runners cross the Melling Road again and jump two plain fences. The Chair and the Water Jump follow, in front of the stands. Then they do it all again. On the second lap they skip those last two and bear right at the Elbow for the winning post.
What the ground does
The going is the official word for how soft or firm the ground is. Over more than four miles it matters more than anywhere. Soft ground makes a long race longer, and tired horses make more mistakes.
Aintree waters the course to keep the ground safe. So read the going report on the morning of the race. Do not rely on the weather from the week before.
How to read form for Aintree
Start with horses who have been here before. Four other races use the National fences. The Topham Chase and the Foxhunters’ Chase are run at the April meeting. The Becher Chase and the Grand Sefton are run in December.
A clear round in any of them tells you the horse copes with spruce. Then check the weight. The handicapper frames the National weights as a special case and they come out in February. They do not change after that, even if a horse wins again before the race.
A short history
Aintree held its first meeting in 1829. The first official Grand National came ten years later and a horse called Lottery won it. Captain Martin Becher fell at the brook in that race, and the fence has carried his name ever since.
Red Rum is the only horse to win three Grand Nationals. The modern race is a safer one. In 2024 the field was cut from 40 runners to 34, and one fence was lowered by two inches.
Getting a bet right
Most people back a horse each way in the National, and place terms differ from one bookmaker to the next. Count the places and check the fraction before you bet. Six places at a fifth of the odds is a different bet from four places at a quarter.
You can bet weeks ahead, which is called ante-post betting. The price is often bigger, but you usually lose your stake if the horse does not run. If you bet on the day and a rival is pulled out late, Rule 4 may trim your winnings. You can also bet into a pool with the Tote, where the payout depends on how many people backed the winner.
No horse is a safe bet in a race with 30 fences. Set your stake before the day and keep to it.
Who it does not suit
Speed horses struggle on the National course. A two-mile chaser has too far to go. A careless jumper has too many chances to get it wrong. Form from Cheltenham does not always carry over either, because that track is hilly and Aintree is flat.
The Mildmay course, inside the National course, is a different test again. It is a sharp track with tight bends and standard fences. The Grade 1 chases in April are run on it. So a win in the Aintree Bowl tells you little about the National fences, and the same is true the other way round. Our guide to race types and classes explains what Grade 1 means.
The big races
The gates open on a Thursday in April and the best jumpers in training are waiting. Here are eight races that bring them to Aintree, day by day.
- AprGrade 1
Aintree Bowl
A staying chase on the Mildmay course. It often draws horses who ran in the Gold Cup the month before.
- AprGrade 1
Aintree Hurdle
Champion Hurdle horses often step up in trip for this one. It was first run in 1976.
- AprHunters’ chase
Foxhunters’ Chase
For amateur riders only. It is their chance to ride over the Grand National fences.
- AprGrade 1
Melling Chase
Named after the village next door, which also gives the Melling Road its name.
- AprHandicap
Topham Chase
A fast handicap over a single lap of the big fences. It was first run in 1949.
- AprGrade 1
Liverpool Hurdle
A staying hurdle on National day. It moved here from Ascot in 2004.
- AprHandicap
Grand National
The longest jumps race in Britain, run on the Saturday. Up to 34 horses line up.
- DecHandicap
Becher Chase
An early-winter trial for the National. The Grand Sefton, over about 2m 5f of the same fences, shares the card.
The National, counted
The winner walks back in and the same question goes round the stands: could it win again? The record book says that is rare.
Grand National wins
Read it this way: only Red Rum has won three. The two most recent dual winners are shown under him. Earlier horses won twice too, Manifesto among them in 1897 and 1899.
| Before 2024 | Now | |
|---|---|---|
| Maximum field | 40 | 34 |
| Start | Rolling | Standing |
| First fence | Further away | 60 yards closer |
| Fence 11 | 5ft | 4ft 10in |
Three big chases compared
Read it this way: the National is a mile longer than the Gold Cup at Cheltenham, with eight more fences. It asks for 12 more jumps than the King George at Kempton Park.
Quick answers
The questions people ask most about Aintree and the Grand National, each answered in a line or two.
How long is the Grand National?
The Grand National is run over about four miles and two and a half furlongs at Aintree. That is two laps of the National course and 30 fences.
How many horses run in the Grand National?
The Grand National has a maximum field of 34 runners. The limit was 40 until it was cut for the 2024 race.
How many fences are there at Aintree?
The Grand National course at Aintree has 16 fences. Fourteen are jumped twice in the Grand National, which makes 30 jumps in all.
Which is the biggest Grand National fence?
The Chair is the tallest fence on the Grand National course at 5ft 2in. It is fence 15 and it is jumped only once.
Is Aintree left or right-handed?
Aintree is left-handed. The Grand National course, the Mildmay course and the hurdles course all turn to the left.
Has any horse won three Grand Nationals?
Red Rum is the only horse to win the Grand National three times. He won at Aintree in 1973, 1974 and 1977, and finished second in 1975 and 1976.
More courses
Every track sets a different test, so here are our guides to five more.
Keep reading
The guides that go with this page, and the tools to check a bet before you place it.