NOW the Cheltenham Festival is over, we move on to the Grand National, which is one of the biggest betting races of the year and the jewel in the crown of the horse racing calendar. With more than 7.5 million people expected to tune in from home, interest will be high as we wait to find out who will emulate last year’s winners Noble Yeats and Sam Waley-Cohen.
Almost everyone will be having bets on the showpiece Aintree handicap, meaning that bookmakers pull out all the stops for the Grand National to ensure that you’re betting with them. There are some excellent odds and prices to be found as a result and we’ve put together some top tips about betting on the 2023 Grand National as customers in this handy guide.
With so many options on the market, there are lots of things to consider when choosing a bookmaker to bet with on the races at Aintree. To help you play the field, we’ve put together our top nine betting sites in our guide with all of the following in mind.
As we mentioned above, you’re spoilt for choice when it comes to finding a site to bet on the 2023 Grand National. With each firm in the field offering something different to try and entice you in, we’ve put together a guide with some pros and cons below.
Bet £10 get £30 in Free Bets
18+ New customers on mobile only | 7 days to claim and stake £10 minimum bet at odds of 1.5 or greater to qualify. Free, void, cashed out or partially cashed out bets do not qualify. Max 3x £10 free bets credited on bet settlement. Free bets must be used on 4 or more selections with selection odds of 1.3 or greater. Free bets are non-withdrawable and stake not returned with winnings. 7-day expiry. BeGambleAware.org. Full T&Cs apply
Top of our list is BetUK, one of the newer names on the betting scene. They have hit the ground running however and offer an excellent service for horse racing.
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Get £50 in bet bonuses
18+ only | Place a qualifying £25 fixed odds bet at odds of 1/2 or greater. Qualifying bet cannot be placed in-play or cashed out early. Free bets are credited upon settlement of the qualifying bet. Free bets must be claimed within 28 days of opening. *Full T&Cs apply.
Also scoring well are SpreadEx, who are the go-to name if you are in to spread betting. This isn’t for everyone however and they also have a solid sportsbook.
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Cons
Bet £10 get £30
18+. Play Safe. From 00:01 on 18.10.2022. £30 bonus. New customers only. Minimum £10 stake on odds of 1/2 (1.5) or greater on sportsbook (excluding Virtual markets). Further terms apply.
One of the most recognisable names in betting is William Hill and they scored very highly. With competitive odds and strong markets on every race in the UK and Ireland, it’s no wonder they score well.
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£30 matched free bet if your first acca loses + 50 bonus spins
New UK customers only. Min Deposit: £5. Maximum Free Bet: £30. First bet on a Football or Horse Racing multiple with 3+ selections. Overall odds: 3.00 (2/1) or higher. Free Bets available upon settlement of the qualifying bet. Debit card deposits only (exclusions apply). 18+. BeGambleAware.org. Bet The Responsible Way. Full terms apply.
Another bookmaker to score well was Betway, another established name in the sphere. Alongside some competitive offers on the Grand National, you can also earn free bets with their unique promotion.
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+£10 welcome offer + £500k Aintree placepot pools
New customers online only. Receive up to £/€10 in tote Credit if your first bet loses. 7 day expiry. Qualifying bet is the first racing pool bet added to the bet-slip. Totewin will be the qualifying bet when a Totewin and a Toteplace bet are struck at the same time. 18+. Full T&Cs apply. BeGambleaware.org. Full T&Cs apply.
One of the most unique names on this shortlist are the Tote, who are a specialist racing provider. Betting on the Tote is done through a pool, which means that the starting prices on each of the horses are determined by the weight of the market.
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kwiff is an established and trusted name and they scored well on our assessment, particularly on logistics. Their site is nice and easy to navigate and their sports markets are solid.
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Bet £10 get £15
18+, Welcome Bonus: New Players only, 1st Deposit, Min Deposit: £10, max £15 bonus, valid for 14 days, bets must be placed at a min. odds of 1/1 (2.00) or greater and be settled within 14 days of placement. System bets not eligible.
A newer name in this sphere is Mr Play, but they scored highly on our assessment, with a very solid offering on horse racing and a strong banking interface for things like card payments.
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Cons
Bet £5 get £20
18+ New UK+IRE Customers only. Certain deposit methods & bet types excl. Min first £5 bet within 14 days of account reg at min odds 1/2 to get 4x £5 free bets. Free bets available to use on selected sportsbook markets only. Free bets valid for 7 days, stake not returned. Restrictions + T&Cs apply.
Ladbrokes is a famous name in the betting world. This season, it has a promotion specialized for the Aintree festival, making it ideal for any aspiring and veteran punters looking to win big.
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Cons
Get 50% up to £50
New bettors get 50% of deposit up to £50; Once per household; Min deposit £15 (no Skrill/Neteller); Wager a total of 8 times deposit + bonus, with max qualifying bet stake equal to your initial bonus amount; Bonus expires after 60 days; Min odds of 4/5 on singles, or 2/5 per leg for acca; Some bet types excluded; See full terms; Terms and conditions apply
With several interesting promotions, 10Bet scored highly for punters who are looking for extra incentives.
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Bet £10 & Get £30 in Free Bets
New Customers only. Bet £10* & Get £30* in Free Bets. Sign up, deposit between £5* and £10* to your account and bet365 will give you three times that value in Free Bets when you place qualifying bets to the same value and they are settled. Free Bets are paid as Bet Credits. Min odds/bet and payment method exclusions apply. Returns exclude Bet Credits stake. T&Cs and time limits & exclusions apply.
One of the best-known names in the sphere are bet365, so it’s no surprise they score highly on our quota, with an excellent all-round service.
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The resounding favourite at the time of writing is the Lucinda Russell-trained CORACH RAMBLER (6-1), a two-time Cheltenham Festival winner who’s bidding to provide his trainer with a second winner in the race since 2017.
Other runners in the Aintree field who have excellent chances according to the betting include last year’s winner NOBLE YEATS (8-1), though he carries a lot more weight this time.
DELTA WORK (9-1) is another Cheltenham Festival winner (in the Cross Country) for Gordon Elliott, while MR INCREDIBLE (14-1) and GAILLARD DU MESNIL (14-1) figure prominently for Willie Mullins. Two more Irish raiders to consider are LONGHOUSE POET (16-1) and Any Second Now (16-1).
British challengers that can’t be discounted include the Coral Gold Cup winner LE MILOS (16-1) for Dan Skelton, MINELLA TRUMP for Donald McCain (66-1) and MISTER COFFEY (50-1) for the legendary Nicky Henderson. Also catching the eye are ROI MAGE (40-1), COKO BEACH (33-1) and VELVET ELVIS (40-1).
Finding the best price for you selection in the Grand National can be simple, but if you follow these simple steps, you should quickly be on your way…
Bet £5 get £20
18+ New UK+IRE Customers only. Certain deposit methods & bet types excl. Min first £5 bet within 14 days of account reg at min odds 1/2 to get 4x £5 free bets. Free bets available to use on selected sportsbook markets only. Free bets valid for 7 days, stake not returned. Restrictions + T&Cs apply.
Odds serve two purposes, the first is to tell you what chance the bookmaker thinks the horse has of winning and the second is to tell the punter how much they stand to win if they back it.
To calculate the odds, bookmakers work out the percentage chance that they think each of the horses have of winning and each percentage builds a market. A perfect betting market will see all percentages add up to 100% – with any extra accounting for the bookmakers’ profit margin.
For example, an even money shot (evs) would have a 50% chance of winning by the bookies and anything shorter than that (or odds-on) would be greater than 50%, and so on.
There are so many different angles to consider when looking at the Grand National, but it’s difficult to look past Corach Rambler. Lucinda Russell won the race with One For Arthur in 2017 and there are plenty of similarities with this horse, who carries a nice weight. With stamina assured, it’s very difficult to look past him.
At a much bigger price, it may be worth chancing a bit of cash on Mister Coffey each-way for the legendary Nicky Henderson, who is still searching for his first winner in the race – 44 years on from his first runner. He could sneak into a place. Meanwhile, it’s impossible to discount the Irish raiders Delta Work and Gaillard Du Mesnil.
Several of the sites in our list scored well in this, but it’s difficult to look past William Hill, who are best price or joint best price on the vast majority of Grand National runners at the time of writing, including favourites Corach Rambler and Gaillard Du Mesnil. Other sites to score well were bet365, Tote, and BetUK.
Bet £10 get £30
18+. Play Safe. From 00:01 on 18.10.2022. £30 bonus. New customers only. Minimum £10 stake on odds of 1/2 (1.5) or greater on sportsbook (excluding Virtual markets). Further terms apply.
Winning the Grand National just once is an achievement that most trainers can only dream of, but there are three trainers in history who have won the race four times.
Each of George Dockeray, Fred Rimell and Ginger McCain (the trainer of the legendary Red Rum) all have four winners in the race.
Current trainers to note include Delta Work’s trainer Gordon Elliott, who has won the race three times with Silver Birch (2007) and Tiger Roll (2018 and 2019).
Almost every single bookmaker on our list offer live streaming on horse racing. The only two we couldn’t verify were Mr Play and 10Bet, though the Grand National will be shown live on ITV Racing.
Bet £10 get £30 in Free Bets
18+ New customers on mobile only | 7 days to claim and stake £10 minimum bet at odds of 1.5 or greater to qualify. Free, void, cashed out or partially cashed out bets do not qualify. Max 3x £10 free bets credited on bet settlement. Free bets must be used on 4 or more selections with selection odds of 1.3 or greater. Free bets are non-withdrawable and stake not returned with winnings. 7-day expiry. BeGambleAware.org. Full T&Cs apply
Betting odds change according to how popular or an unpopular a selection is and how much money has been put on them, so it’s only logical to think that the prices of some horses will shorten and widen as we get closer to the race – as that’s when the highest volume of bets are placed.
Finding the best prices can be a daunting task, but following these top tips should put you on the right path and hopefully into the winners’ enclosure.
A responsible gambler is someone who:
For help with a gambling problem, call the National Gambling Helpline on 0808 8020 133 or go to www.gamstop.co.uk to be excluded from all UK-regulated gambling websites.