The 2024 Grand National (officially known as the

Randox Randox is a Northern Irish health and toxicology company in the ''in vitro'' diagnostics industry headquartered in Crumlin, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, owned by Peter FitzGerald. The company develops diagnostic solutions for hospitals, cl ...

2024 Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 176th annual running of the

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. First run in 1839, it ...

horse race Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

. It took place on Saturday 13 April 2024, at

Aintree Racecourse Aintree Racecourse is a horse racing, racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England, near to Liverpool. The racecourse is the venue for the Grand National steeplechase (horse racing), steeplechase, which takes place annually in April over three da ...

near

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England. The event was sponsored by Randox Health. Changes from previous races were the reduction of horses from 40 to 34 and an earlier start time of 4pm, compared to 5.15pm in 2023. It was won by bookies' favourite I Am Maximus, who was trained by

Willie Mullins William Peter Mullins (born 15 September 1956) is an Irish racehorse horse trainer, trainer and former jockey. He is a nineteen-time List of Irish National Hunt races, Irish National Hunt Champion trainer. Mullins is the most successful traine ...

and ridden by

Paul Townend Paul Townend (born 15 September 1990) is an Irish people, Irish jockey who competes in National Hunt racing. From Lisgoold in County Cork, he has been attached to the yard of Irish trainer Willie Mullins since he was fifteen, beginning his care ...

Race card

Two horses, Run Wild Fred and Chambard, were withdrawn on the morning of the race after being found lame, reducing the field to 32 runners, the smallest field since the

1999 Grand National The 1999 Grand National (known as the Martell Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 152nd official renewal of the world-famous Grand National steeplechase that took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England, on 10 April 1999. The r ...

which also had 32 runners.

Finishing order

Non-finishers

A total of 21 out of 32 horses finished the race, leaving 11 non-finishers. Seven horses were pulled up, and four were due to unseated riders. While concerns were expressed for Mac Tottie, who was treated by veterinarians at the scene, all the horses returned safely. However, over the course of the 3 day meeting, if not over the Grand National fences, there were two equine fatalities.

Broadcasting and media

As the Grand National is accorded the status of an event of national interest in the United Kingdom and is listed on the

Ofcom Code on Sports and Other Listed and Designated Events The Ofcom Code on Sports and Other Listed & Designated Events is a series of regulations issued originally by the Independent Television Commission (ITC) then by Ofcom when the latter assumed most of the ITC's responsibilities in 2003, which is des ...

, it must be shown on

free-to-air Free-to-air (FTA) services are television (TV) and radio services broadcast in unencrypted form, allowing any person with the appropriate receiving equipment to receive the signal and view or listen to the content without requiring a subscri ...

terrestrial television in the UK. The race was broadcast live on TV by ITV for the seventh time, and the first year in its new three year deal with the

British Horseracing Authority The British Horseracing Authority, also known as the BHA, is the regulatory authority for horse racing in Great Britain. It was formed on 31 July 2007, after the merger of the British Horseracing Board (BHB) and the Horseracing Regulatory Au ...

. The ITV coverage was presented by

Ed Chamberlin Edward Alan Chamberlin (born 6 February 1974) is an English sports broadcaster who has been working for ITV since January 2017. Presenting career Chamberlin was born in Shepton Mallet, Somerset. As a boy he attended Ludgrove School, where he ...

. Analysis was provided by former jockeys Sir Anthony McCoy,

Mick Fitzgerald Michael Fitzgerald (born 10 May 1970) is a retired Irish National Hunt jockey and current television racing pundit. Fitzgerald rode for the majority of his career in Great Britain and less often Ireland. Career as a Jockey Mick Fitzgerald's ...

, and

Ruby Walsh Rupert "Ruby" Walsh (born 14 May 1979) is an Irish former jockey. He is the second child, and eldest son, of former champion amateur jockey Ted Walsh and his wife Helen. Widely regarded as one of the greatest National Hunt racing, National Hunt ...

. Reports were provided by Alice Plunkett, Adele Mulrennan, Luke Harvey,

Rishi Persad Rishi Persad (born 25 May 1973) is a British sports television presenter. Early life Persad grew up in the 1980s on the island of Trinidad in the Caribbean a keen cricket and horse racing fan. His parents were Indian, his mother worked as a bank ...

and Matt Chapman, and betting updates were provided by Brian Gleeson. Oli Bell covered viewers' comments on social media, and the commentary team was Mark Johnson, Stewart Machin and Richard Hoiles, who called the finish for the seventh time. Following the race, Bell and Walsh guided viewers on a fence-by-fence re-run of the race.

References

{{Grand National 2024 2024

Grand National The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Aintree, Merseyside, England. First run in 1839, it ...