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
1840 Grand National of the connections of his mount had made any enquiry as to his state. As a result, the wall was replaced with a water jump in time for the next running. Later historical accounts of the Grand National are notorious for carrying factual errors. The official history of the race written in the 1980s recorded Cruickshank as a non runner and The Sea as an official finisher in fourth place. 1840 Grand National The 1840 Grand Liverpool Steeplechase was the second official annual running of a steeplechase, later to become known as the Grand National Steeplechase handicap horse race, which