Grand National race to be televised in high-definition in the UK. In August 2013 Crabbie's was announced as the new sponsor of the Grand National. The three-year deal between the alcoholic ginger beer producer and Aintree saw the race run for a record purse of £1 million in 2014. In March 2016 it was announced that Randox Health would take over from Crabbie's as official partners of the Grand National festival from 2017, for at least five years. The Grand National is run over the National Course at Aintree and consists of two laps of 16 fences, the first 14 of which
Aintree railway station to and on to Exchange until they were withdrawn by the British Transport Commission on 2 April 1951. The main line via Walton was also used by longer distance local & express trains from Exchange to , Blackpool, Scotland and East Lancashire in addition to the intensive electric commuter service and some of these also stopped at Aintree, especially when the nearby race course hosted the famous Grand National meeting. The Ormskirk line was not included in the list of routes to be closed in the 1963 Beeching Report (unlike the other two routes from Liverpool Exchange), but the route