William Hill Half a Mill

Year one of the William Hill Half A Mill almost gave us one of racing’s greatest stories with Twig, who only cost £100, lining up in the Randox Grand National after winning the Becher Chase at Aintree. Ultimately, it wasn’t to be as the Ben Pauling-trained runner finished 15th, but he will go down in history as the first contender to try for the £1m Grand National prize courtesy of the bonus.

With the aim of going bigger and better in year two, we welcome you to follow in Twig’s footsteps and take aim at the William Hill Half A Mill.

Free Entry into the Randox Grand National
As part of the scheme, any horse which wins one of the eligible trial races will be granted an automatic free entry to the 2026 Randox Grand National.

The automatic entry for the RGN stays with the horse, even if it moves yard or is sold to another Owner.

The automatic, free entry does not guarantee participation in the Randox Grand National. The horse will have to fulfil the normal criteria and race conditions for participation and be within the 34 top-rated, declared runners 48hrs before the race.

The Haydock Grand National Trial is due to take place 12 days after entries close (on Saturday 14th February) and only 3 days before weights are published (on Tuesday 23rd February) in 2027. Should the winner of that race not already be entered for the Grand National, the BHA have granted permission that a wildcard entry is given to them, which would allow the winner of the race to be added, ahead of the weights being published.

Trainers are responsible for entering winners of all the qualifying races, except for the Grand National Trial at Haydock. The trainer of the Haydock Trial winner will be contacted by an Aintree Racecourse representative on the Monday after the race to arrange the horse’s Grand National entry, if it has not already been entered.

After this point, trainers must ensure all entries and declarations are confirmed by the deadlines outlined in the Randox Grand National conditions.

Aintree Racecourse will arrange refunds of entry fees after each entry and confirmation stage. Owners remain liable for any Weatherbys administration fees associated with making entries.

Prize Money
If the bonus is activated, the £500,000 prize pot will be split in the following way:

• £400k Owner
• £50k Trainer
• £25k Racing Staff of Trainer
• £25k Jockey

To be eligible for their portion of the bonus, the Owner(s), Trainer and/or Jockey must be identical in the RGN2027 as they were in the qualifying race.

If the Owner(s), Trainer, and/or Jockey are not the same for the RGN2027, their portion of the bonus will not be payable. Should this occur, William Hill and The Jockey Club will consult with the relevant stakeholder groups (ROA, PJA, NARS, NTF) to select an appropriate charity. The unclaimed portion of the bonus will then be donated to that chosen charity.