Grand National in front of the stands. The majority of the race therefore took place not on the actual Aintree Racecourse but instead in the adjoining countryside. That countryside was incorporated into the modern course but commentators still often refer to it as "the country". There are 16 fences on the National Course topped with spruce from the Lake District. The cores of 12 fences were rebuilt in 2012 and they are now made of a flexible plastic material which is more forgiving compared to the traditional wooden core fences. They are still topped with at least of spruce for the horses
1850 Grand National the order below, omitting Peter Simple and Columbine however none of the known contemporary news reports support this. The official records for Aintree racecourse state that the winner completed the course in a time of 9 minutes 57 seconds, making this the first sub ten minute Grand National, however none of the contemporary newspapers reports of the time support this information with the few that did record the time stating that it was won in a time of 10 minutes 20 seconds. 1850 Grand National The 1850 Grand National was, at the time, the 15th annual running of a handicap