Grand National lease in 1848. One century later, the Topham family bought the course outright. Later in the century the race was the setting of a thriller by the popular novelist Henry Hawley Smart. For three years during the First World War, while Aintree Racecourse was taken over by the War Office, an alternative race was run at Gatwick Racecourse, a disused course on land now occupied by Gatwick Airport. The first of these races, in 1916, was called the Racecourse Association Steeplechase, and in 1917 and 1918 the race was called the War National Steeplechase. The races at Gatwick are not
Athletics at the 1900 Summer Olympics – Men's 4000 metres steeplechase one among them to win a second medal was Sidney Robinson, who added a bronze medal to the silver he had won earlier. The course was the same as that of the shorter event, but with eight laps instead of five. The 4000 metres was the longest distance of any Olympic steeplechase. "None", this was the first time the event was held. And it was the only time a steeplechase race was held over 4000 metres. The British trio dominated this race, finishing in the top three spots close together. The fourth-place finisher was about four times as far behind