Excitement as crowds return to the Grand National meeting after three years away

Racegoers denied the chance to attend the Grand National meeting since 2019 began pouring into Aintree from 11am on Thursday, with one of the first to attend admitting he may not return to next year's Cheltenham Festival after being unhappy with the customer experience last month.

Racegoers and owners were among those who complained about increased food and drink prices at Cheltenham, which the track's Jockey Club owners blamed on inflationary increases in the cost of goods and labour.

As at Cheltenham, the price of a pint of Guinness at Aintree has this week been set at £7, while glasses of house wine can be bought in racecourse bars for £8.

A 500ml bottle of still water costs £2.60, while anyone wanting to purchase a bottle of Moet et Chandon Brut Imperial non vintage champagne will need to hand over £95 for a product being sold at £43.99 on the Majestic wine website.

Nico Giglione: 'You're paying premium prices but you aren't getting a premium product'

Dublin-based racegoer Nico Giglione, who visited Aintree for the first time when attending the Becher Chase fixture in December, said: "It doesn't really annoy me that you have to pay £7 for a pint. What did annoy me at Cheltenham was that you couldn't get a pint as the queues at the bars were ten-deep. You're paying premium prices but you aren't getting a premium product.

"The missus paid £19.30 for a glass of champagne and a burger with chips cost £12.50. I know you can say that you don't have to pay because you don't have to buy anything, but if you're there from noon to 5.30pm it's a long time without anything to eat and drink."

Giglione added: "I'm not actually bothered about drinking at the races. What I disliked most at Cheltenham were the crowds. I went on the Tuesday to see Honeysuckle win the Champion Hurdle and with 68,000 people there it just felt too busy. It would put me off going to Cheltenham next year."

A spokesperson for Aintree said: "We work hard to absorb inflationary costs wherever we can and our prices are comparable to other major events, which also have large set-up costs. We put all our profits back in to support British horseracing."

Aintree Thursday: full racecard and betting

Like Giglione, many of Aintree's early customers were using tickets that had been rolled over from the cancelled 2020 Randox Grand National festival, among them Wendy and John Parry from near Wincanton.

"We should have been here last year," said Wendy. "This is a birthday present for my husband and a mother's day present for me. We love horseracing and go to Cheltenham a lot, but it's our first time here and we're excited."

The 2021 Grand National meeting took place behind closed doors, meaning Tiger Roll's second Aintree triumph was the last to be seen by a crowd on course.

Paul Kealy's Thursday banker at Aintree

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