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
1994 Grand National consecutive year as part of its regular Saturday afternoon sports programme "Grandstand". The entire five-hour-long programme was presented from the course as a Grand National "Grandstand" special, presented by Des Lynam, and featured interviews with the connections of the runners and features on some of the competitors as well as looking back at the history of the race and interviews with celebrities and racegoers on the course. Three other races on the Aintree card were broadcast on the programme before Lynam handed over to Richard Pitman and Peter Scudamore who presented the build-up to the big race itself, which included