Grand National 2025 LIVE: Runners, riders, tips, odds and results on day one of Aintree Festival

The Grand National is on Saturday, 5 April and headlines a three-day festival of racing at Aintree racecourse, which begins on Thursday, 3 April.

The big race begins at 4pm BST on 5 April. Aintree Racecourse, positioned just outside of Liverpool, will host the iconic race, with more history to be made this year on the Mildmay course.

The triangular-shaped course, which is just over 2m2f long, is one of the most challenging tests in the sport with a maximum of 34 horses, cut from 40 in 2023, battling for glory.

The race can vary in time, with Mr Frisk triumphing in 1990 in a breathtaking time of eight minutes and 47.80 seconds, but most years the winner crosses the finish line in just over nine minutes.

I Am Maximus is attempting to create history as the first runner carrying top weight to win since three-time winner Red Rum in the 1970s, while only Tiger Roll has defended the title, in 2019, since then.

But before that, we’ll look forward to a star-studded card on Thursday.

Thursday’s Aintree Hurdle will be one of the races of the season, as the two titans face off, although the prospect of a three-way heavyweight battle was denied when Gordon Elliott revealed Brighterdaysahead was being withdrawn from the race to focus on the Punchestown Festival instead.

Gold Cup winner Inothewayurthinkin appeared set to attempt a famous double at Aintree, but he was one of 11 horses taken out at the second round of scratches while a number of others withdrew at the five-day confirmation point, boosting hopes of an audacious repeat for I Am Maximus after glory in 2024 with jockey Paul Townend.

Inothewayurthinkin, who was the 3/1 favourite on betting sites after downing Galopin des Champs at Cheltenham, was attempting to become just the second horse after Golden Miller in 1934 to win both iconic races in the same season.

But the Gordon Elliott horse is not the favourite this year, and neither is Gold Cup winner Inothewayurthinkin, who has now been scratched after topping the market within minutes of claiming a glorious upset over Galopin des Champs in the iconic race at Prestbury Park.

Here’s everything you need to know about the race and key dates and times to look out for:

Hello and welcome to The Independent’s live coverage of day one at the Aintree Festival as we build up to one of the highlights of the racing calendar, the Grand National.

Lots in store before that, though…