How to Watch the Grand National Live (2026)

In this guide I’ll be showing you how you can watch the Grand National live anywhere in the world.

The Grand National is the UK’s biggest 1-day horse racing event and quite possibly one of the most famous across the world.

However, although there are some 500 million people across the world hoping to tune into the Grand National the coverage of the event internationally is pretty weak.

So if you’re a Brit abroad or you’re just a lover of horse racing (with a cheeky little bet – and why not?) and you want to watch the entire race live, I’ve got the details you’ll need.

So read on my four-legged-racing-loving-friend, you’re about to find out how easy it is to live stream the Grand National wherever you are on the planet.

First things first, what you’ll need to watch

The UK’s ITV network paid somewhere in the region of many millions to show coverage of the Grand National so in the UK, ITV is where you’ll be able to watch the event. You can also live stream it online on the ITVX service.

However, only if you’re in the UK.

Outside the UK you’ll be blocked because ITVX uses geo-restrictions.

To hurdle (see what I did there?) these restrictions you’ll need to get yourself a VPN app. They’re a completely legal privacy tool which helps you disguise your location.

After 10 years of testing VPN services I found ExpressVPN to be the best for watching ITV X which will let you watch the Grand National online.

They’ve got a handy 30-day money back guarantee in case you can’t get it working and there’s also a neat 49% discount right now if you take their annual package (although you can sign up for only a month if you choose).

A couple of other decent options include NordVPN and CyberGhost VPN, they cost about the same and they’re pretty easy to use, but my favourite is definitely ExpressVPN as they’re a little more reliable.

30-day money back guarantee

How to stream the Grand National in any country

You’ll need to sign up for one of the VPN services mentioned above and then download their app.

Follow the steps below and you’ll be watching the Grand National in just a few minutes.

1. Visit ExpressVPN (or one of the other services) and sign up for their service.
2. Download their app from the ‘Products’ area of their website or from your usual app store.
3. Open the app and when required login with the account details you created when signing up.
4. Press ‘Selected Location‘ (1).
5. Then press ‘United Kingdom‘ (2).
6. Press ‘Connect‘ (3) if required.
7. Wait for the app to connect which should take 15 – 30 seconds.
8. Once connected visit the ITV X website or use the ITV X Android app, Apple iOS app or Amazon Fire TV app.
9. Enjoy watching the Grand National live at 4 pm BST.

When is the Grand National taking place?

The Grand National will take place on April 11th, 2026.

After lots of movement and changes the Grand National is set to be shown at 4 pm which is the UK time.

In the past, it was usually shown 1 hour later, but prior to that it occupied the 4 pm slow. Don’t forget there’s a lot of pre-race build up before this time so you can tune in early and watch all this if you wish.

Around the world that’s 11:00 in New York, 17:00 in Germany, 19:00 in Dubai, 22:00 in Thailand, 00:00 in Japan and 01:00 in Sydney, Australia on 12th April.

Be sure to double check the time in your location, the above is just a guide.

30-day money back guarantee

How can I bet on the Grand National?

Normally, if you’re in the UK then you can visit any high street bookmaker to place a bet on the National.

You can also place bets online on all the most popular bookmakers such as Paddy Power, Ladbrokes, William Hill, Betfair, Sky Bet and many other reputable websites.

If you’re outside the UK, you can use your local betting establishment. UK users who are temporarily outside the UK can use the same VPN service to login to your betting account.

Check out our generic gambling from overseas guide or our dedicated Paddy Power, William Hill, Ladbrokes, Sky Bet and BetFair guides.

As always, never gamble more than you can afford, if you think you may have a gambling problem check out GamCare for help.

In Summary

The race from Aintree Racecourse is one of the biggest in the world of horse racing. As you can’t make it to Liverpool especially if you’re outside the UK even if you wanted to, then you won’t want to miss a second of the action.

By using a VPN app from ExpressVPN, you can watch live coverage of the Grand National in any country.

Sign up for ExpressVPN’s service and download their VPN app. Then connect to the UK. You can now live stream the entire National on the ITVX website or by using the ITVX app.