Horse racing lovers heading to Aintree today have been left furious after seeing the drink prices for this year's Grand National festival.

An estimated 150,000 punters will be flocking to the Liverpool racecourse for the three-day event - which includes one of the biggest spectacles in the racing calendar on Saturday.

But those attending the first day of the meet have been left gobsmacked by the eye-watering prices for beverages.

Fans will have to pay £7.50 for pints of draught beer or cider, including Carling, and £7 for Guinness - which has risen in price by 50p since last year.

Fizz enthusiasts will be asked to shell out £46 for a bottle of Prosecco and £85 for champagne - accumulating an increase of £8.

The reveal of the event's booze prices has sparked a lot of online debate, with some describing the fees as a 'rip off' and 'legalised robbery'.

Those attending on the first day have been left gobsmacked by the eye-watering prices for beverages

One person wrote: 'No wonder hospitality is going down the drain at them prices.'

Another said: 'I wouldn't waste my money', while a third simply put: 'Rip off Britain'.

A fourth person added: 'Striped jumpers and masks come to mind legalised robbery every sports arena is the same.'

Prices will range from £2.75 for a soft drink to £7.50 for a pint of Madri. Spirits are on offer starting from £6.75. 

A cocktail such as an Espresso Martini or Strawberry Mule will cost punters £13. 

In comparison to last year's event, the prices have not changed too drastically, with fans asked to pay £2.30 for a mixer to £7.20 for some pints at the 2023 festival.

At the Cheltenham Festival in March this year - pints of Guinness, Madri Lager, Aspall Suffolk Cyder or Atlantic Pale Ale were all £7.50, with the cheapest rose champagne at the meet being £48.

With this in mind, some online users didn't feel the Aintree prices were too outrageous.

One person said: 'Not as bad as I thought. If you can afford to attend Aintree you can certainly afford those prices.'

Another commented: 'Still cheaper than Cheltenham, no wonder the figures were down dramatically this year.'

A third simply added: 'Don't think there that bad, reasonable for such a big event.'

The Grand National at Aintree is one of the biggest horse races in the world and Britain's most iconic jump race.

Jockeys and horses that manage to complete the very difficult task of winning the 34 entry race are immediately given legendary status. 

Earlier this week it was revealed that a 'ring of steel' will protect this Saturday's Grand National from disruptive animal rights protestors - with olice deploying specialist undercover behaviour experts to monitor the crowds.

Senior officers are keen to avoid a repeat of scenes at last year's horse race when activists stormed the track and attempted to glue themselves to fences.

Thanks to an undercover expose by the Mail, police had been alerted to the plot by campaign group Animal Rising a fortnight earlier, and were on hand to quickly arrest more than 100 protestors.

It meant the world-famous steeplechase was delayed by just 14 minutes.

But furious trainer Sandy Thomson later blamed the 'ignorant' eco-mob for the death of his horse Hill Sixteen, which suffered a fatal fall at the first fence after going 'hyper' because of the delay.