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
1984 Grand National 1984 Grand National The 1984 Grand National (known as the Seagram Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 138th official renewal of the world-famous Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 31 March 1984. For the first time, the field was limited to a maximum of 40 runners. A sell-out crowd at Aintree saw 23 contenders complete the course, breaking the record for most finishers and one which still stands today. Hallo Dandy won the race, ridden by Welsh jockey Neale Doughty. The pairing had finished fourth in the previous year's National. By