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
Saratoga Race Course seating capacity. In 1999, Saratoga Race Course was rated as "Sports Illustrated's" #10 sports venue of the 20th Century. Saratoga Race Course has several nicknames: "The Spa" (for the nearby mineral springs), the "House of Upsets", and the "Graveyard of Champions". Famous race horses to lose at the track: As is the case with the other two tracks operated by the New York Racing Association – Aqueduct and Belmont Park – there are three separate tracks in the main course at Saratoga Race Course: Steeplechase races are also run at Saratoga Race Course and take place on the inner turf