Why the Grand National, the Biggest Horse Race in the World, is held in Liverpool
When it comes to the world of horse racing, there is one race that stands head and shoulders above the rest as being considered to be the biggest in the world. That race is the Grand National, which is labelled ‘the World’s Greatest Steeplechase’ by many.
It may not be the longest race on the planet, nor the most challenging, but there is something about it that allows it to capture the public’s attention more than any other event. Even the Gold Cup, which is the Jockey Club’s blue riband event, doesn’t have quite the same draw as the National. The question is, how come it takes place in Liverpool rather than somewhere else?
A Brief History of Aintree
In order to get a better sense of how it is that the Grand National ended up at Aintree, it is worth taking a quick look at the history of the racecourse itself. It opened its doors for the first time on the seventh of July 1829, with William Lynn leasing ground from the Second Earl of Sefton, William Philip Molyneux in order to build a course.
Horse racing had been popular in Liverpool since the Tudor times, whilst Nicholas Blundell had been known to organise races on the beech at Crosby. It was therefore felt that the city’s surrounding areas would be an excellent place to open a racecourse, which is why Lynn opted to open one there.
During the Second World War, the racecourse was requisition for use as a storage depot for the United States of America, leading to hundreds of servicemen being stationed there. The course re-opened in 1946 with a three-day meeting. Three years later and the Topham family bought the racecourse outright from Lord Sefton after it had merely been leased out for the previous 100 years.
Within a few years, the Tophams announced that they planned to sell the course to property developers, although that didn’t actually happen until 1973 when Bill Davies bought it. He himself sold it to the Jockey Club in 1983 and they have owned it ever since.
The Story of the Grand National’s Arrival at Aintree
Part of the success of Aintree as a racecourse is thanks to the Grand National. In 1835, William Lynn arranged some jump racing to take place at the course, with one of the riders being the well-known Captain Martin Becher. The story says that Becher informed Lynn of a race run at St. Albans that was point-to-point across four miles of countryside, with the race capturing Lynn’s imagination.
He decided that he wanted a race like that for Aintree, so he worked with Becher to organise an event called the Liverpool Grand Steeplechase, which was first run on the 29th of February 1836 on the Aintree Racecourse turf.
@raceday.rtv What a view of Aintree and the Grand National course! 🤩 (Note the crowd to the left too! 🎉) #Raceday #GrandNational #AintreeRaces
It was a success, won by Captain Becher on the back of a horse named The Duke. There are some who consider this to be the first Grand National, but the majority prefer 1839 as the year of the inaugural event. By that point, members of the aristocracy were taking an interest, seeing many of them backing a national event being hosted at the course. It was given the moniker of the Grand Liverpool Steeplechase, which was a slight twist on the title of the previous event.
Taking place ‘four miles across country’ and featuring 29 obstacles, Becher fell into a brook at one point that was later named after him, with Lottery winning.
A Race Built for Liverpool
In the years that followed, the popularity of the race increase exponentially. The first running of the event had attracted around 50,000 spectators, with that popularity going up year-on-year thanks to it become a race of national interest. Lynn’s interest lessened as he suffered from poor health, whilst Edward William Topham becoming the leading influence at the course.
In 1843 he made the decision to turn the event from a weight-for-age race into a handicap one, whilst four years later he officially gave it the name of the ‘Grand National’. Through the second-half of the 19th century the race’s interest grew, as did the popularity of Aintree itself.
This painting captures the thrilling 1843 Grand Liverpool Steeplechase at Aintree, which later became known as the Grand National.
In the painting, you can see the stone wall jump. which was removed in 1846. pic.twitter.com/7uXbZvUUIC
— Grand National 2025 (@grandnational09) July 4, 2024
In many ways, the two were essentially inseparable. When the Tophams confirmed that they wanted to sell Aintree to property developers, an era known as the ‘Last Grand National began’. The fact that it lasted for around 20 years gives you a good indication of how no one was all that keen on the two going their separate ways. For a time, there was talk of the Grand National being moved to Doncaster; not least because Davies tripled the cost of admission and attendance hit an all-time low.
Ladbrokes took over its management in 1976 and revived it, installing a new clerk of the course and revitalising the race.
In Liverpool but not From Liverpool
Aintree is located on the outskirts of Liverpool city centre; too far to walk but too close to say that it’s another location entirely. The Grand National is a race that the people of Liverpool are incredible proud of, meaning that the Jockey Club would almost certainly face huge opposition if they wanted to move it anywhere else.
Add in the fact that the racecourse itself would struggle to maintain its position without the ‘World’s Greatest Steeplechase’ and you can see why it is that there has never really been any serious attempt to move it. Even so, there is an extent to which Liverpool as a city has an uncomfortable relationship with it all.
@gabrielledawn11 Anti-monarchy group protests King Charles’s visit to Liverpool shorts
As you can read about elsewhere on this site, Liverpudlians have a relationship with the Royal Family that could be referred to as ‘strained’ at best. With that in mind, it is hard for the people of the city to be completely comfortable with a sport that is so actively associated with the Royals. In 1991, for example, the Queen Mother Stand opened at the course, then in 1998 the Princess Royal Stand opened.
In 2007 stands were opened named after the Earl of Derby and Lord Sefton, with many Scousers feeling uncomfortable about the links to the establishment that those represented. The race itself, though, will always be in the hearts of most Scousers.
