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The Grand Guide


3 - 5 April 2025

Welcome to The Grand Guide

Your ultimate hub for everything Randox Grand National Festival 2025. Stay ahead with the latest entertainment announcements, racing news, and exclusive hospitality updates.


What's new for 2025...

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I Am Maximus Eyes A Grand National Double

During an exclusive visit to Willie Mullins' yard, the thrilling news that I Am Maximus, affectionately known as "Moo Moo" in the yard, will return to Aintree in 2025 to defend his Grand National crown.

Mullins revealed his ambition for the champion to join the ranks of legends like Red Rum and Tiger Roll, who claimed multiple victories in the iconic race.

“Red Rum won three and Tiger Roll won two, and I think JP [McManus, owner] would be keen to have a horse who can try to win two and maybe try for a third one. If you don’t try, you don’t succeed, so that’s the plan," Mullins shared.

Safer Racing Ahead: New Padded Hurdles at Aintree Racecourse

 

We've made major improvement to track safety for the 2024-25 season and beyond at both Aintree and Cheltenham with the introduction of padded hurdles.

 

Designed with both horse and rider in mind, these innovative hurdles have been carefully trialed and are proven to reduce the number of fallers by an impressive 11%.

 

Get an in-depth look at how padded hurdles are set to make a positive impact on the sport by watching the video below:

Entertainment

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Winner of Channel 4’s “The Piano" to Perform Live at the Randox Grand National Festival

We’re thrilled to announce that Brad Kella, the exceptionally talented pianist from Bootle and recent winner of Channel 4’s The Piano, will perform on Grand National Day.

Having captivated audiences across the UK with his remarkable performances, Brad now brings his scholarship-winning talent to Aintree. Set against the iconic backdrop of the Grand National, this special performance promises to be an unforgettable addition to an already exhilarating day at the races.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to witness a local star shine on racing’s biggest stage!

The Art School at Aintree Racecourse

Award-winning, celebrity chef, Paul Askew, and his expert team will once again recreate The Art School at Aintree Racecourse for the 2025 Randox Grand National Festival. This unmissable culinary experience features a six-course tasting menu complemented by a flight of fine wines all within view of the Parade Ring. In Chef Askew’s words: “The Grand National embraces everything that I love about gastronomy and hospitality”.

 

Discover the inspiration behind this unique collaboration and learn more about the artistry and passion Chef Askew brings to each dish in our exclusive Q&A.

 

My menus are always influenced by the quality of the seasonal ingredients. We spend so much time seeking out the very best that our region can produce. I like to show off the food cultural identity of the Liverpool city region and remind people of our world-class ingredients to go alongside world-class horseracing.


This year, as we focus on sustainability, we will introduce more foraged produce and Cheshire Wild Venison will be supplying ethically sourced fallow deer and hare for the new terrine created in our kitchens. This will sit alongside the introduction of a new scallop & Café de Paris butter dish.


Game is something that we love to cook with and will always remind me of the first ever visit to Aintree when Albert Roux was cooking a wonderful game and squab pigeon pithivier for Patrick Martel. I was so lucky to spend the day with him.

Mother Nature and seasonality is at the heart of every menu that is created by The Art School team. March and April bring a variety of new season produce from the region’s suppliers and farms, the best of which are developed into our menus. For prestigious events however, such as the Grand National meeting, we like to push the boat out a little and bring additional luxury touches to our menus.

 

The main ethos of The Art School remains the same: find the best local, seasonal produce and make the ingredients the star of the show by enhancing them with flavour, texture, special seasonings and techniques but never forgetting the importance of cooking with love.

The Grand National embraces everything that I love about gastronomy and hospitality. Being classically French trained, but loving and being inspired by modern Asian influences, I love the challenge and opportunity to prepare some of the industry’s most famous, time-honoured dishes in new and exciting ways.

 

Bringing diverse and wide-ranging cultural influences together and presenting them to both long-standing and new audiences, pairs perfectly with the Jockey Club ethos.


It’s all about keeping culinary and racing history current & vibrant to welcome and delight racegoers who attend religiously each year as well as guests attending for the first time. We need to ‘Wow’ people every time.

We have always steered away from ‘fads’ and the ‘smoke-and-mirror’ style of cooking. I opened The Art School with a vision that has slowly and subtly incorporated the emergence of the green revolution, global flavour influences, zero-waste & sustainable dining and local sourcing to name a few. We will continue to develop these ideas but will also be keeping an eye on future developments such as alternative proteins and the next generation of nutrient-rich superfoods. For now, the most popular innovation is the reinvention of ‘comfort food’, enriching it with bold, complex flavours and refined techniques. I can tell you that this is one trend close to my heart!

 

We never stop evolving and we always have a vegan menu available at the restaurant and constantly seek new ingredients to ensure that non-meat dishes are as exciting as the meat and fish dishes. This year we will be celebrating locally grown (in Southport) exotic species of mushrooms and foraged seaweeds foraged from Northern Ireland.

The table is the stage on which so much of life is set, from first dates to weddings, first homes to family dinners – and, of course, world-class racing. It is where we eat and drink, of course, but more than that, it is where we communicate. The big conversations – and subsequent decisions – happen between mouthfuls, amid the clatter of cutlery and plates. This is the essence of the kind of service I wanted my team to deliver when we first discussed service procedures 10 years back. Whilst we have refined what we do we strive to deliver to our guests a discreet, seamless service in the most comfortable, approachable manner.

 

We serve each guest with the same importance and love – always willing to go the extra mile. As the Jockey Club knows, when guests feel genuine care and hospitality they know and respond accordingly in their enjoyment. This is how great memories and atmosphere are created. As the great Sylvano Girardin, Maitre D’ of La Gavroche stated, ‘We are merchants of happiness….’

It's more than just the racing

Entertainment

There’s unmissable entertainment across all three days.

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Grand National Dress Code

There’s no official dress code at The Grand National. We encourage you to come dressed to feel your best! Aintree is a spectacle of colour for all three days of the festival, with many using their trip as an opportunity to showcase their favourite raceday looks".

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The Style Awards

The Randox Grand National Festival celebrates the best in racing, style and fashion as The Style Awards returned to Ladies Day at Aintree Racecourse.

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Be here in 2025

The Randox Grand National Festival is far more than just the world's greatest steeplechase; it's an experience of epic proportions, an event where stories become legends and unforgettable moments are etched into history.


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