I Am Maximus wins Grand National to become two-time winner after success in 2024
Win gives Willie Mullins third straight success in race - first time that has happened since 1955
Listen to BBC Radio 5 Live commentary and reaction at top of page
Send in your views using the 'Get Involved' button
We are just a few moments away from the start of the 2026 Randox Grand National.
All 34 horses and their respective jockeys are having a canter towards the start line and getting themselves set.
I think it is fair to say we will not quite start at the scheduled time of 16:00 BST.
Hopefully, it will not be too much later than that.
Randox Grand National 4m 2½f (16:00 BST)
Davy Russell, who won back-to-back Grand National's with Tiger Roll, speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live: "You are trying to keep as calm as you can and keep in the same routine as if it were just another day and another race. You are trying to find the horses you want to be around and who you don't want to be around. Who is going to take you where? How is the horse behaving?. There is so much going through the jockey's minds at the moment but it is all about to unfold."
Randox Grand National 4m 2½f (16:00 BST)
Harry Cobden, who will ride Perceval Legallois in the Grand National, talking to BBC Radio 5 Live: "I’m looking forward to it. Aintree is an important week for all of us and I’m very excited.
"Aintree is a lot more relaxed than Cheltenham - that is the big pressure week that we’ve built our whole year towards. Aintree is one of the big weeks before the end of our season really.
"It is the race that every jockey wants to win. You grow up dreaming about winning a race like that. It would be absolutely incredible, but there are 34 runners so you need a lot of luck round there and you need a horse good enough to carry you. There a lot of things that you need on the way round to make it all happen.
"I’ve never seen or ridden him before! It is how it is most of the time I ride out now. Most of the horses you ride on the track you never see or ride before so literally you have a couple of minutes before you get down to the start to have a feel and warm them up and that’s it, away you go.
"In a race like the Grand National you get a feel on the way round. He ran in the last year and actually fell at the ninth fence but first eight he jumped pretty well so I’m not too worried about it. When you are in a race like that, rhythm is everything and if your horse is relaxed and you’re jumping well and you’re conserving energy everywhere you go - they are the important things."
The Grand National at Aintree was first run in 1839 as the Grand Liverpool Steeplechase.
There was a similar race for three years prior but its status as the Grand National was later revoked.
During World War One the event couldn't take place at Aintree so for three years it took place in Gatwick.
There were no runnings between 1941 and 1945 for World War Two and the 1993 race was cancelled after a number of false starts.
The 2020 race was also abandoned due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Randox Grand National 4m 2½f (16:00 BST)
Charlie Poste
Welsh Grand National winning jockey on BBC Radio 5 Live
Panic Attack has been a serious improver all year. She's one with a chance but she has to break a massive statistic.
Charlotte Coates
BBC Sport Journalist at Aintree
At about 16:15, one horse will cross this line in first place and etch its name in Grand National history forever.
But who will it be?
Image source, BBC SportRandox Grand National 4m 2½f (16:00 BST)
Image source, Getty ImagesPanic Attack has "all the qualities" needed to become the first mare to win the Grand National in 75 years, says her trainer Dan Skelton.
The 10-year-old has been popular in the market for Saturday's showpiece and is vying for favouritism alongside 2024 winner I Am Maximus.
But history is stacked against her, with Nickel Coin the last mare - which is a mature female horse typically aged four or older - to win the four and a quarter mile race at Aintree in 1951.
Magic of Light was the last to place in the race, finishing second in 2019 for Irish trainer Jessica Harrington.
Panic Attack was third in her last run in the Mares Chase at Cheltenham Festival in March - but had won her previous three races, including the well-regarded Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham in November and Coral Gold Cup at Newbury two weeks apart.
"I love that a mare hasn't won it for that long because it means there is going to be one soon enough - right?" Skelton told BBC Sport.
"I think, probably, there hasn't been a mare for so long because there hasn't been many take the challenge.
"All of our qualities are what you need to win the race - she has a great temperament, she jumps well, she'll handle the ground, she'll handle the occasion beforehand.
"The four-mile 2f trip is a long way for a horse to run and jump so you need to be sure you'll get that marathon trip and everything about her suggests she will.
"I think a mare will win pretty soon and hopefully it's this week."
RaceiQ data shows that in the 12 Grand Nationals since 2013 there have been 461 runners and just 11 have been mares. Seven have finished the race with one falling, one pulled up and two unseating their rider.
Randox Grand National 4m 2½f (16:00 BST)
Image source, Getty ImagesThe Grand National is the most valuable contest in jump racing with a total prize fund of £1m.
Racehorse owners receive about 80% of the prize money with the remainder mainly split between trainers, jockeys and stable staff.
Randox Grand National 4m 2½f (16:00 BST)
Image source, Getty ImagesThe 34 runners have to complete two laps of the Aintree track, covering four-and-a-quarter miles and jumping 30 fences.
The Chair is the tallest of the 16 fences at 5ft 2in but along with the Water Jump only features on the first lap.
The 14 other fences, which include Becher's Brook, Canal Turn and Valentine's Brook, are jumped twice.
The course takes roughly between nine and 11 minutes to complete, depending on conditions on the day.
Randox Grand National 4m 2½f (16:00 BST)
Image source, Getty Images(Year, horse, age, weight, trainer, jockey, odds)
Image source, Getty ImagesIt’s certainly been a rollercoaster few days for jockey Tom Bellamy.
The 31-year-old was booked to ride last year’s winner Nick Rockett but when the horse was withdrawn by trainer Willie Mullins on Thursday morning, he found himself on the sidelines.
However, fellow jockey Kielan Woods had a nasty fall at Fontwell on Thursday and Bellamy comes in to ride his intended mount Marble Sands, who is around 80-1, in the National.
After Bellamy won at last month’s Cheltenham Festival, his mum Sue famously put out a plea on live TV for a girlfriend for her son – who knows what she will do if he wins the big race!
We've had a quick rendition of the national anthem at Aintree and there are less 15 minutes to go until the big one!
We will keep you up to date with all of the big talking points between now and the start of this year's Grand National.
BBC Sport Wales at Aintree
Dylan Mohammad-Smart
BBC Sport Wales
You have to go back to 1905 for the one and only time a Welsh trainer has won this race, Kirkland winning the big race that day.
That's a stat Pembrokeshire based Rebecca Curtis wants to change this afternoon.
She has the big hope in Haiti Couleurs, the nine year old has enjoyed a stellar year, winning the Irish Grand National last season and the Welsh Grand National in December, I was there that day and it felt like all of Wales was cheering him on.
He was pulled up in the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March, his jockey Sean Bowen never felt like he was going well, but he’s bounced back from disappointing performances in the past.
Champion jockey Sean Bowen rides him again today. Fourth is the best finish Sean has achieved in this race, that was on Noble Yeats in 2023.
Jockey Patrick Mullins, who is riding Grangeclare West in the Grand National, speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live: "I was planning on riding Nick Rockett but he just wasn't 100% today, so I am on Grangeclare West. He was third last year. He might have been a little bit unlucky, he made a mistake at the last fence. We're hoping he can go a bit better this year.
"I was riding I Am Maximus last year, Grangeclare West was slightly out of my eyesight as I was focussing on my horse and just trying to hope to god no one beat me. Watch the replay, he was definitely an eye-catcher."
On previously winning the Grand National: "It definitely takes the pressure off and it is something you would love to do. It is one of those things that often happens to other people and you think, 'am I good enough to win it'. You get a bit of confidence and there's a bit less pressure really."
Randox Grand National 4m 2½f (16:00 BST)
Image source, Getty ImagesThe Grand National is a unique challenge. It is four and a half miles - the longest race in the British jump calendar - and has some of the most challenging jumps too.
But what does it to take win the race that officially started in 1839?
Rachael Blackmore, who won the race in 2021 on board Minella Times, told BBC Radio 5 Live last year.
"It’s a little bit different to riding in races at Cheltenham or so on where you feel a lot of pressure -jockeys don’t feel the same pressure going into the Grand National," said Blackmore.
"It is really exciting - if you’re down at the start and you’re lined up you’re in with as good a chance as anyone. Everyone is trying to achieve the same thing.
"You need a lot of things to go your way if you’re going to win the National, there’s a lot of different things involved.
"Some horses take to the race and you’re just hoping you’re on one of those."
With around 20 minutes to go until the start of the Grand National, here's now the market is shaping up:
Charlotte Coates
BBC Sport Journalist at Aintree
Is there a bigger sporting event that can throw up more stories than the Grand National?
Some brilliant stories could potentially come out of the race today so here's what to look out for.
Image source, BBC SportRandox Grand National 4m 2½f (16:00 BST)
Trainer Josh Guerriero speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live about Iroko: "We were quite happy seeing that [hail] come down because last year we felt the ground was a bit quick for him. He is not a quick horse, he stays well and does prefer softer ground so the more the better.
"I just think he [Iroko] is the safer bet. He has been here and done it. We know he can jump and stays well.
"Jagwar could come here, love it and travel like mad and go through the race easily and he is the unexposed one I suppose. He has improved a lot. He is improving all the time. It is a hard split but I suppose Iroko is the safer one. I am not saying Jagwar doesn't have a chance but he has to prove it."
Randox Grand National 4m 2½f (16:00 BST)
Trainer Oliver Greenall speaking to BBC Radio 5 Live about Iroko: "The ground was only good-to-soft on the day [at Cheltenham] but it's a very different track to today and I am confident that ever since then, he has been working well and he has been A1.
"Having that experience could just give him the edge today and could get him a better jumping ground and hold his position better which he seems to have done at Haydock and Ascot. If he can do that on this softened ground, I am with Iroko."
Gina Bryce
BBC Radio 5 Live reporter at Cheltenham
It is such a brilliant race. I think it gets better every year. You get those high class horses coming in and quite often, you are going into it thinking 'that's got a chance, that's got no chance'. It is hard to do that this year, anything can pop up here. Real high-quality horses.
As far as some of the standout stories go, we've got Haiti Couleurs representing Wales. I think you have to go back to 1905 for the last Welsh-trained winner, so that will be carrying plenty of support.
There is a big gamble on a mare called Panic Attack, it is quite unusual to see a female in a Grand National. This one is trained by Dan Skelton, who is having a brilliant season and will head out in front and get into a good rhythm at the front. If she wins, I think she will be the first mare in 75 years, so that will be the story.
Then, there is the David v Golliath. There is one at the bottom called Twig that was brought for just £100, which was brought by the parents for their sons to have a run around jump races They've ended up in a Grand National and they could be set to win £1m today. £500,000 for this and a £500,000 bonus for one of the trial races they won earlier this season. Wouldn't that be quite something?