Glamourous racegoers have braved the rain to flock to Aintree racecourse for the Grand National Festival's Ladies Day

2023-04-14 7

Glamourous racegoers have braved the rain to flock to Aintree racecourse today (Friday) for the Grand National Festival's Ladies Day.

Flamboyant outfits including a jacket made out of leaves and jaw-dropping headwear were the order of the day as 50,000 fans entered the gates from 10.30am onwards.

Racegoers kept up the traditional standards despite the newly relaxed casual dress code at the Merseyside course, where the temperature reached highs of just 8C.

This year's Grand National festival will see £3.47million in prize money paid out.

Punters are expected to wage £150million on races, while thirsty race fans will have to fork out £7.50 a pint.

The event is part of the three-day Grand National Festival and is known for being one the biggest events in the social calendar.

Around 150,000 people will be attending the three-day race meeting while over 600 million people worldwide are expected to watch Saturday's showpiece steeplechase.

Liverpool's fashion boutiques are also expecting a 600% rise in fake tan purchases and a 65% uplift in fake eyelash purchases before the event.

Noble Yeats won the race with Sam Waley-Cohen last year, in his last ever race before retirement.