What Time Is the Grand National 2026? Schedule and TV Guide

The 2026 Grand National starts at 4:00pm BST on Saturday 11th April. The race is the centrepiece of the three-day Aintree Festival, which opens on Thursday 9th April and continues through Ladies Day on Friday 10th April. Knowing the exact schedule matters not just for watching — it matters for betting, because the timing of your wager relative to the race start can affect the odds you receive, the promotions you qualify for, and whether your bookmaker’s app is responsive enough to process your bet.

This is the full schedule for the 2026 Aintree Festival, including how and where to watch every race.

The Full Festival Schedule

The Aintree Festival runs across three days, each with a distinct character and a full card of high-quality racing.

Thursday 9th April is opening day. The card features several Grade 1 races, including the Betway Bowl — a three-mile chase that attracts top-class horses and often provides clues about Grand National contenders — and the Aintree Hurdle. The first race typically goes off around 1:30pm, with the final race before 5:30pm. Opening day is the quietest of the three in terms of crowd size but arguably the best for quality racing, with fields that are smaller and more predictable than Saturday’s marathon.

Friday 10th April is Ladies Day, the most photographed day of the festival. The racing is headlined by the Topham Chase, run over the Grand National fences at a shorter distance of two miles and five furlongs. For Grand National punters, the Topham is essential viewing: it reveals which horses handle the unique Aintree obstacles. The Melling Chase, a two-and-a-half-mile Grade 1, is the other feature race.

Saturday 11th April is Grand National Day. The supporting card begins at 12:45pm, building toward the main event at 4:00pm BST. From 2026, the running order ensures both Grade 1 races are completed before the Grand National, with only the Grade 2 Champion Bumper following at 5:00pm. The atmosphere at Aintree reaches its peak in the hour before the off, and the television coverage switches into full narrative mode — runner profiles, paddock analysis, jockey interviews, and the parade of horses past the grandstand. For anyone placing a late bet, the paddock parade is one of the few genuinely useful visual cues: a horse that looks relaxed, well-muscled, and alert is in a better state than one sweating heavily, pulling its handler, or appearing lethargic.

The race itself takes approximately nine minutes. That brevity is part of its appeal — nine minutes of total concentration, covering four miles and 30 fences, with the outcome often decided in the final 494-yard run-in from the last obstacle to the winning post.

The 2025 Grand National drew 5.2 million viewers on ITV in the UK alone, with the global audience reaching approximately 600 million people across 140 countries. The 2026 race will carry the same weight of attention, making it the single most-watched horse race in the world.

How to Watch the Grand National

In the United Kingdom, the Grand National is broadcast live on ITV1. Coverage typically begins in the early afternoon on Grand National Day, with extended pre-race analysis from around 2:00pm. The race itself is the final event of the broadcast, preceded by interviews, course walks, and market analysis that can genuinely inform a last-minute betting decision.

ITVX — formerly ITV Hub — provides a free live stream for UK viewers with an account. No subscription is required, and the stream is available on phones, tablets, laptops, and smart TVs. For a once-a-year viewer who does not want to pay for Racing TV or Sky Sports, this is the simplest way to watch the Grand National away from a television.

Racing TV and Sky Sports Racing offer more comprehensive coverage of the full Aintree Festival, including every race on all three days. These are subscription services aimed at dedicated racing fans rather than the once-a-year Grand National viewer. If you are only interested in the big race on Saturday, ITV’s free coverage is more than sufficient.

Several bookmaker apps also offer live streaming of the Grand National to customers with a funded account or a placed bet on the meeting. The stream quality varies by operator, and the commentary may differ from the ITV broadcast, but it provides a useful alternative if you want to watch the race within the same app you are using to track your bet.

Watching Worldwide

The Grand National is broadcast in approximately 140 countries. International coverage is handled by various regional broadcasters and streaming services, with arrangements that change year to year. In Ireland, the race is typically shown on RTÉ. In Australia, it falls on a Sunday morning due to the time difference and is available through racing-specific channels.

For international viewers without access to a local broadcast, bookmaker streams with VPN-accessible accounts are a common workaround, though terms of service vary by operator and jurisdiction. The safest option is to check your local broadcaster’s horse racing schedule in the week before the race — the Grand National is prominent enough that any outlet with racing rights will carry it.

Timing Your Bets Around the Schedule

The start time of the Grand National has a direct bearing on when you should place your bet. The race is at 4:00pm, but the betting market is active from the moment you wake up — and in the case of ante-post bets, from months before.

If you are placing a bet on Grand National morning, the early hours between 8:00am and noon are the optimal window. Odds are relatively stable, bookmaker apps are responsive, and Best Odds Guaranteed — which ensures you receive the higher of your price and the starting price — is active at most operators. By early afternoon, the volume of bets increases sharply, and prices can move quickly in response to market money, going changes, and jockey announcements.

One exception: if you are waiting for the official going report before committing your money, the final going inspection is conducted on race morning and announced by mid-morning. Waiting until after the going is declared, then betting by early afternoon, gives you a meaningful information advantage. A shift from Good to Soft can shorten some horses and drift others by several points, and knowing the declared conditions before you commit is a free edge.

Between 3:00pm and the 4:00pm off, the market enters its most volatile phase. Prices shorten and drift rapidly as the final wave of public money arrives. Bookmaker apps can slow under the traffic load, and in rare cases transactions fail to process. If you have not placed your bet by 3:30pm, you are operating under time pressure that serves nobody well — least of all your decision-making. Place the bet earlier, enjoy the build-up, and let the race unfold without the stress of a last-second scramble to confirm your wager.