The Grand National 2011 will be run at Aintree race course on Saturday, 9th April at 4.15pm (GMT) and as usual the race will be covered live by BBC sport. The Grand National is described as the ultimate test of horse and jockey. The grueling course has thirty fences, some measuring more than seven foot tall. With a field of 40 runners the race is one of England’s biggest sporting spectacles.

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The National is one of those events that has everyone glued to the TV set. Young and old, professional gamblers and the ‘once a year’ punters all enjoy a bet on this race. When it comes to picking a winner some swear by sticking a pin in the newspaper, others pour over the form for days. Whatever your method for picking a National horse we can give you help, advice and information on all aspects of the 2011 Grand National.

Below you can see all the runners for the Grand National, along with the latest odds and the bookmaker giving the biggest price for that runner.

THE official jubilations of the 60th anniversary of Her Majesty the Queen’s accession to the throne will kick off at Britain’s richest horse race – the Derby.

The Epsom Derby, which is renowned all over the world and is now called the Investec Derby, due to its sponsors, is 48 hours of racing fun with the Investec Ladies’ Day on Friday, June 1 and Investec Derby Day on Saturday, June 2 – the first formal bash for the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.

On February 6, 1952, Her Majesty came to the throne and was coronated a year later on June 2, 1953, then on June 5, she was watching the Derby, the same as she was six decades ago.

Famously, Queen Victoria is the only other British ruler to get to the 60th anniversary on the throne.

The Group 1 race held on Saturday, June 2, that the Queen will be watching at the festival, which is now 233 years old, has been renamed the Diamond Jubilee Coronation Cup in her honour. Other races she will be viewing will be the prestigious £1.25m Investec Derby and the Dash.  

The national anthem will be performed to a crowd of more than 125,000 and in front of Her Majesty by opera singer Katherine Jenkins and the band of HM Royal Marines.

The 2,423 metres long Derby Group 1 race, has no jumps and is run by throughbred colts and fillies, aged three or more.

Charles Dickens was famously a fan of the race that started in 1780 and was named after Edward Smith Stanley, the 12th Earl of Derby. Today, of the five Classic races, the Derby is the most distinguished.

The most races that one jockey has won is nine, with the title held by one of the greatest Lester Piggott. Never Say Die was his number one winner in 1954 and Tennoso was his final victory at the Derby in 1983.

Two years ago the quickest winning time was set by Workforce, done in two minutes and 31 seconds and 10 lengths is the widest winning margin by Shergar 31 years ago. In 1862 there were 34 runners, the highest entry there has been but the Deby in 1794 hols the record for the smallest number with just four runners.

Pour Moi and jockey Mickael Barzalona were victors in 2011 at the most impressive flat race in the world.

The end of April sees the Punchestown Festival take place and it is a showcase finale for the jump season. The race attracts the finest horses, jockeys and trainers hoping to finish the year with a big win.

The Punchestwon festival has an incredible 11 Grade 1 races taking place during the event making it the most contested festival of the Irish National Hunt Racing season. Amongst the top quality racing is the famous La Touche Cup run over the cross country course that gives a thrill to all racing fans.

The festival begins on Tuesday with Champion Chase Day and provides 3 Grade 1 races for you to enjoy; The Boylesports.com Champion Chase, the Evening Herald Champion Novice Hurdle over 2 miles and the Growise Novice Chase over 3 miles.

Wednesday is Gold Cup Day and hosts, as the name suggests, the Grade 1 Gold Cup considered the highlight to the chase season. It also hosts the betchronicle Champion Bumper and the Grade A Handicap Chase over 2 miles 4 furlongs.

Thursday sees the World Series Hurdle and the Ryan Air Novice Chase as well as the La Touche Cross Country race.

Friday traditionally expects the biggest crowd of the festival all going to enjoy the party atmosphere of Champion Hurdle Day.

Closing the festival on Saturday is the AES Champion 4 Year Old Hurdle which showcases young talent and gives you a preview of possible champions of the future. It is also a fantastic family day out and the kids will love the Junior Jockey Fun Club where they can enjoy pony rides, face painting and bouncy castles.

Many people have dubbed the Grand National as ‘The Greatest Steeplechase In The World’ and each year the event lives up to this largely due to its unpredictability. Over the races 173 year history there have been many horses with long odds who have gone on to win and five of those were 100-1 outsiders, giving you the chance to win big whilst you enjoy the race calendars most spectacular event.

The first of the five was Tipperary Tim in 1928 who was only one of the two horses that finished the race that year, the other being Billy Barton who’s jockey had to remount after a fall leaving Tipperary Tim to take the race. The reason the National became a two horse race was due to Easter Hero falling at Canal Turn and causing a massive pile up leaving only seven horses in the race five of which falling before the final fence.

The largest number of horses to ever compete in the Grand National in 1929 helped the next 100-1 horse ‘Grelach’ win the race. Sixty-Six horses where in the starting line up and inevitably this caused the chaos which lead to only ten horses finishing.

Race rules still allowed any number of horses to enter in 1947 and once again this gave the long shots a chance to cover themselves in glory. Firm favourites such as Prince Regent got caught up in the heavily congested pack and the Irish trained Caughoo was able to surpass them and become the third 100-1 outsider to win.

Twenty years passed before another 100-1 outsider won the National this time due to a number of riderless horses reaching the fence after Becher’s Brook and refusing to jump blocking the following horses so they couldn’t make the jump with more than a few throwing their riders. This allowed Jockey John Buckingham riding Foinavon (The fence was later named for him) who had fallen behind the pack to catch up and slow enough to adjust his path and make the jump whilst the remaining jockeys had to remount giving Foinavon a 15 length lead when he finished.

Our final 100-1 winner is Mon Mome who fought hard to win in what was a very strongly contested race. With well over ten horses remaining and two fences to go Jockey Liam Treadwell managed to keep Mon Mome in the race and when he asked for more Mon Mome gave and with a slight weight advantage crept forward to take the race.