Racing fans who are looking to celebrate the return of the Aintree Festival are about to find out that drinks prices at the event are more expensive than ever before, as the official drinks menu and its prices have been published.
The Aintree Festival has officially kicked off today, with its marquee race – The Grand National – taking place at 5.15pm this Saturday 15 April.
Attendees will find that the price of a pint at the festival is as high as £7.50 for a Madri, Staropramen, Guinness or Rekorderlig cider. Meanwhile, pints of Carling are on offer for a slightly cheaper price of £7.20.
Furthermore, research from Betting.com has revealed that these prices make Aintree the UK’s most expensive racecourse when it comes to pints.
Like Aintree, Last month’s Cheltenham Festival is one of the most popular events on the racing calendar, however, it is also one of the most expensive when it comes to pints, with a pint of Guinness matching Aintree’s astonishing fee of £7.50.
Image: Aintree race course
Image: Aintree race course
Alternative alcoholic drinks at Cheltenham were found to be only slightly cheaper, with Pravha priced at £7.40, while Doom Bar costs punters £7.00 and Carling is available for £6.90 a pint.
The next-most expensive racecourses for pints are Sandown, where every variation of pint, including lagers, ciders and Guinness is valued at £6.80.
There’s also the famous Epsom Festival, where a pint of Pravha is priced at an expensive £6.70, however, a pint of Guinness costs a ginormous £7.00 – no wonder everyone tries to win big at the races!
The cheapest racecourse pint is found at Ludlow, where a wide choice of beverages including beer (Dortmunder) and cider (Stowford Press), which are priced at a very reasonable £4.00.
For Guinness lovers looking to save pocket at the races, the best bet is Taunton where a pouring of the popular stout costs just £5.00. It’s also worth checking out Chelmsford and Salisbury, racecourses that charge just £5.50 for a Guinness.
If pints aren’t your tipple of choice, prices still remain high at the Aintree Festival. Wines will set punters back £8.75 per 187.5ml glass, or £34 per 750ml bottle. Meanwhile, there is a variety of champagnes available all priced between £78 and £122.50 per 750ml bottle.
As expected, a wide range of spirits are also available at Aintree Festival, which are all priced at £6.00 per 25ml serving. An accompanying soft drink comes with an additional charge of £2.50.
Featured image – Carling
Food & Drink
Lively Irish pub Nancy Spains set to open in Manchester for the first time
Daisy Jackson
An Irish bar famed for its live music is heading up to Manchester for the first time, and is promising £2.50 pints to lure us in.
Nancy Spains will be venturing out of London for the first time promising to bring the ‘ultimate traditional Irish pub experience’ to the Northern Quarter.
If you were to ask what the hottest trend in hospitality is right now the answer would, apparently, be Guinness. We’re drowning in the stuff.
This latest opening is more about Murphy’s, another Irish stout, than Guinness (they actually won’t serve Guinness at all) but the craic will be much the same.
Nancy Spains is actually set to open almost directly opposite the aforementioned Salmon of Knowledge, taking over the former Corner Boy unit on Stevenson Square in the heart of Manchester.
To celebrate its opening, the pub will be serving its first 5000 pints of Murphy’s for just £2.50, so that it can show off the atmosphere that’s established it as ‘one of London’s favourite pubs’.
They’re promising an array of Irish whiskeys behind the bar, live music performances, and a lively late-night setting.
Nancy Spains was set up by three brothers who travelled all over their home county of rural Kerry researching Irish pubs, before launching two venues down in London.
They want it to balance a traditional pub with the vibrancy of the city.
Peter O’Halloran, co-founder of Nancy Spains commented, “We’re so excited to be launching in Manchester, bringing Nancy Spains to the heart of the Northern Quarter.
“After the success of our two venues in London, it was only right to bring Nancy Spains’ infectious spirit and Irish pride to Manchester. Slainte!”
Nancy Spains will open its first Manchester pub on Saturday 15 March at 21 Hilton Street.
Lucky Mama’s – The Italian restaurant serving pasta in a dough bowl and ‘pregnant’ pizzas
Daisy Jackson
Lucky Mama’s is a local sensation, thanks to its slightly whacky but delicious Italian creations like pasta served in a bowl made of pizza dough and its latest offering, a ‘pregnant’ pizza.
What on Earth is a pregnant pizza, you ask? Firstly we should stress this is a nickname we’ve bestowed upon the dish, rather than Lucky Mama’s chosen branding.
But essentially it’s a helping of fresh pasta that’s folded into the bubble crust of the pizza, like a half-calzone.
Lucky Mama’s started life when founders Mamadou Dhiam and Gaby Santos set up a trailer in their backyard in Eccles in the depths of lockdown.
But thanks to a formidably loyal following that’s spread the word of Lucky Mama’s far and wide, it now has two pretty pink restaurants in Greater Manchester.
Back in 2022, they threw open the doors to their Chorlton restaurant, before returning back to home turf for spot number two in Monton in 2024.
The recipes are fresh and pretty authentically Italian up until the last step, when they throw a curveball by loading their pasta into unconventional vessels.
‘Pregnant’ pizzas at Lucky Mama’sTraditional Roman pizzasLucky Mama’s pink restaurant in Chorlton
Their pasta pizza bowls are what they’re best known for and they fly out of the kitchen – this is where pizza dough is placed around a metal bowl before being baked in an oven.
Then it’s piled high with freshly made pasta, with popular flavours like cacio e pepe, mushroom alfredo, and rasta pasta.
Pasta is available in a regular ceramic bowl too.
You’ll find Lucky Mama’s at 565 Barlow Moor Road in Chorlton; and 217 Monton Road in Eccles.
Georgina Pellant -
13th April 2023 
