Aintree Racecourse fear into the most professional of jockeys. All fences bar the water jump are covered with spruce, unlike at any other course in British National Hunt racing. Four other races take place over the National fences. These are the Topham Chase (formerly known as the John Hughes Trophy Chase) and the Fox Hunters' Chase at the Grand National meeting, and the Grand Sefton Handicap Chase and Becher Chase in the December meeting. Within the large National course there is also the smaller Mildmay course containing hurdles and fences. These fences are made of traditional National Hunt material. The National and
1870 Grand National 1870 Grand National The 1870 Grand National was the 32nd renewal of the world-famous Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England, on 9 March 1870. This was the fifth and final time George Stevens rode the winner in the Grand National. In a publicity stunt before this year's race, an athlete by the name of Tom Scott jumped a circuit of the course without the assistance of a horse. At this time the course was still not fully laid to turf and some of the obstacles were still natural hedges and banks making this a