Grand National Festival 2026: Race Schedule & Start Times

23/03/2026

2 min. read

The 2026 Grand National Festival gets underway on 9th April and all eyes will be on Aintree for three days of glorious jumps action, culminating in the Grand National itself on the Saturday.

Bet on horse racing's biggest meetings at 888sport

On Day One of the meeting, there are a total of four Grade 1 races - with the Boodles Anniversary 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle, Manifesto Novices Chase, Aintree Bowl and Aintree Hurdle taking place on the Thursday.

There are four more Grade 1s on the Friday, with the Mildmay Novices Chase, the Top Novices Hurdle, Melling Chase and Sefton Novices Hurdle attracting stellar fields.

Day Three is undoubtably the most iconic day of the lot, with the main feature being the Randox Grand National.

Get Ready For The 2026 Grand National:

Here, you can find the full race calendar for Aintree 2026 and the timings of each event taking place across the Grand National Festival meeting.

Day One: Thursday, 9th April

13:45 - 2m 4f Boodles Anniversary 4-Y-O Juvenile Hurdle (Grade 1)
14:20 - 2m 1f William Hill Manifesto Novices’ Chase (Grade 1)
14:55 - 3m 1f Aintree Bowl Chase (Grade 1)
15:30 - 2m 5f Randox Foxhunters’ Open Hunters’ Chase
16:05 - 2m 4f William Hill Aintree Hurdle (Grade 1)
16:40 - 2m Close Brothers Red Rum Handicap Chase (Premier Handicap)
17:15 - 2m 1f Goffs Nickel Coin Mares’ Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race (Grade 2)

Day Two: Friday, 10th April

13:45 - 3m 1f William Hill Handicap Hurdle (Premier Handicap)
14:20 - 2m 4f William Hill Mildmay Novices’ Chase (Grade 1)
14:55 - 2m 1/2f Top Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1)
15:30 - 2m 4f JCB Melling Chase (Grade 1)
16:05 - 2m 5f Randox Topham Handicap Chase (Premier Handicap)
16:40 - 3m 1/2f Oddschecker Sefton Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1)
17:15 - 2m 1/2f Debenhams Handicap Hurdle

Day Three: Saturday, 11th April

12:45 - 2m Hallgarten Novum Wines Maghull Novices’ Chase (Grade 1)
13:20 - 3m 1/2f William Hill Handicap Hurdle (Premier Handicap)
13:55 - 2m 4f Turners Mersey Novices’ Hurdle (Grade 1)
14:30 - 3m1f William Hill Handicap Chase (Registered as the Freebooter Handicap Chase) (Premier Handicap)
15:05 - 3m 1/2f Liverpool Hurdle (Grade 1)
16:00 - 4m 2 1/2f Randox Grand National Handicap Chase (Premier Handicap)
17:00 - 2m 1f Weatherbys NHStallions.co.uk Standard Open National Hunt Flat Race (Grade 2)

By Steve Mullington

Steven is a sports and horse racing enthusiast and is a member of the Horseracing Writers and Photographers Association (HWPA) in the United Kingdom.

He is a regular visitor to Paris Longchamp for the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe and a lifelong fan of the Aintree Grand National, a subject he writes about 52 weeks of the year. Last year he reached the impressive milestone of attending the last 30 renewals of the Grand National.

Steven graduated from the University Of Lancaster in 1996 with a B.A (Hons) in Urban Policy & Race Relations (major) with Contemporary Religions & Belief Systems (minor) and still wonders if any of these help him find the winners?

He writes for a number of websites and online publications and you can sometimes hear him at the weekend discussing racing on a number of local radio stations.

About the Author See all Steve Mullington Articles

Steve Mullington