Irish Grand National 2024 - Horse Racing Betting in Ireland

Brown Lad is the most successful horse in the race's history, winning it three times, in 1975, 1976 and 1978. While trainer Tom Dreaper had a true stranglehold on the race for many years, winning it ten times in total, the first in 1942 and the last in 1996. The most successful jockey in the race's history is Pat Taaffe, who won it on six occasions. 

It was one of the very few races to elude Willie Mullins until 2019 when Burrows Saint won in the hands of Ruby Walsh. Since 2014, it has been the Boylesports Irish Grand National, and it remains one of the biggest days throughout the racing year, with the prize money for the big chase a cool €500,000. 

Cheltenham Gold Cup, Thursday 17th March 1966. Arkle and Pat Taaffe after winning the Gold Cup at Cheltenham, their third win in a row. Photographer: Mirrorpix

When and where is it on?

The race will take place on Monday, 1st April 2024, at Fairyhouse Racecourse in County Meath. Fairyhouse Racecourse is in the parish of Ratoath in County Meath. It is approximately 20km from Dublin Airport and 25km from Dublin City Centre. 

Who can enter the race?

The race is open to horses aged five years or older. There has been no five-year-old winner of the race, while the oldest winner, since 1946, was the 13-year-old Overshadow in 1953. There is a maximum field of 30 runners allowed in the race. 

Notably, two female jockeys, Nina Carberry (Organised Confusion, 2011) and Katie Walsh (Thunder and Roses, 2015), have won the race in the past eleven years.

Trainer to follow

There is only one trainer to follow these days and that's Dermot McLoughlin. Based in Bodeen, Meath, just a ten-minute drive from Fairyhouse, McLoughlin's back-to-back winning of the race has been nothing short of a fairytale. 

In 2021, Freewheelin Dylan was dismissed in the market and seemingly dismissed by his rivals when allowed to bowl along in front in the hands of Ricky Doyle. But classy sorts, such as Run Wild Fred and Latest Exhibition, couldn't reel in the 150/1 shot - the longest-priced winner in the race's history. 

It was easily the biggest moment of McLoughlin's training career, but just as very few predicted Freewheelin Dylan's success, few predicted the trainer would do it again the following year. 

40/1 shot Lord Lariat was also sent to the front end and jumped and travelled superbly under jockey Paddy O'Hanlon. The Mullins-trained Gaillard Du Mesnil and the Elliott-trained Frontal Assault laid down charges, but they couldn't get past Lord Lariat. 

The question is which McLoughlin star will line up for glory for the 2023 renewal? 

Jockey Ricky Doyle and trainer Dermot A McLoughlin celebrate after Freewheelin Dylan won The BoyleSports Irish Grand National Chase during the 2021 Fairyhouse Easter Festival at the Fairyhouse racecourse, Ireland. Picture date: Monday April 5, 2021.

How To Place A Bet

If betting on the Irish Grand National, you have many options. For a beginner, it can often be very confusing. To break down how betting on horse racing works, let's first consider what we mean by the odds. 

The Odds

Simply put: the odds are the expected probability of something happening. If a bookmaker prices a horse at 4/1, it means that they think that 1 in 5 times it will win the horse race. If the horse is 6/1, they think it will win 1 in 7 times. 

The odds tell punters how much they will make if their horse wins the race. So, for example, let's say we stake a €10 bet on a horse with odds of 3/1. These odds tell the punter that for every €1 they stake on this horse, if it wins the race, they will win €3. So, if they put €10 on this winning horse, they will win €30 (€10 x 3) while they will also get their stake back. 

If someone exclaims that they had a 25/1 winner, it means that for every €1 they put on the horse, they won €25!

The odds can look more complicated sometimes. For example, if the horse is 7/4 it is not as straightforward to calculate. It means though that if you stake the denominator (4) you will win the numerator (7) if your horse wins the race i.e. stake €4 on this horse and you will win €7. If you stake €8, for example, you will win €14, and so on. 

This is the fractional odds format that is the most commonly used in Irish horse racing. There is also Decimal and American format, which present the odds differently but use the same principles. 

Betting Types

The win bet: this is the most simple and common betting type used in horse racing. It is all-or-nothing. You are betting on your horse to finish 1st in the race, but if the horse doesn't win, you lose your stake. Whether the horse finished second or last is irrelevant to your bet as they didn't win the race. 

The each-way bet: Oftentimes people want to hedge their bets and have more chance of winning money or getting their stake back. The each-way bet is used for this reason. It is made up of two parts, the "win" bet and the "place" bet. To best understand this, it might work best to take these two parts in isolation.

The "win" bet is exactly the same as the win bet described above. You win money if the horse wins the race but lose all your money if it doesn't win the race. The "place" bet is when you think the horse will be placed 1st, 2nd or 3rd, although this does complicate on occasions. If there are lots of runners in the race, bookmakers might pay out on the horse finishing 4th and even 5th or 6th. Whereas if there are less than eight runners, it is common that they will only pay out on the 1st and 2nd places. It is important to know these terms and conditions before placing a bet. 

• An example: You stake €5 each-way on Best Mate at odds of 8/1. This means you are placing a €5 'win bet' and a €5 'place bet' on Best Mate. The race itself has 10 runners, so bookmakers are counting the 1st, 2nd and 3rd horses as being placed. They are also offering a quarter of the odds for place bets.