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Aintree race track is one of the most well-known racecourses in the world and is situated on the A59 at Ormskirk Road, Aintree (Anglo-Saxon for one tree), in the northern suburbs of Liverpool, just 6 miles from the town centre. The racecourse occupies 250 acres and has two left-handed chasing tracks. The first, the Mildmay Course is rectangular and created in 1953. It is nearly one and a half miles in length, with sharp corners and chase fences. The English Grand National course isn’t as sharp as the Mildmay course but is much more hard which is why it is known as one of the hardest races in the united kingdom – one which all horse trainers would seek to gain entrance to. The
English Grand National course is far longer than the Mildmay at virtually two and a quarter miles, and is totally flat, with fences that have a decline on the landing side lesser than the take-off side.

William Lynn is the guy responsible for bringing horse racing to the town of Aintree. Lynn was the proprietor of the Waterloo Lodge, and started horse racing on the land which he rented from the Earl of Sefton. The main stand started being built in 1829 and after 5 months the first meeting for Flat races was held. They didn’t start hurdle steeple chase racing until 1836, when the original Liverpool Grand Steeplechase was held at Aintree on February 29th. This contest was recognised by some as being the earliest ever English Grand National and was won by The Duke, ridden by Captain Martin Becher. However, the more acknowledged Liverpool Grand Steeplechase of 1839 is identified as the original, and was won by Lottery, ridden by Jem Mason. The battle of 1839 was a four miler, across country, and the rule was that ‘no rider to open a gate or ride through a gateway, or more than 100 yards along any street, trail or driftway’.

The racecourse was given over to the MOD in 1915, and after the 1940 National it was again used by the military. Steeple chase racing resumed in 1946 and in 1949 the racecourse was purchased by Messrs Topham Ltd; who had rented the land for practically a 100 years; from the Earl of Sefton for 275,000. Mirabel Topham, an enterprising soul, went on to create the Mildmay course and a car circuit which held the Euro Grand Prix and five British Grand Prix.

Bill Davies purchased the racecourse in 1973 for 3 million and in 1975 Ladbrokes saved the English Grand National, which was in threat of becoming extinct, by managing and administering it for 7 years at a yearly rent of 250,000. In 1983 the racecourse was deemed safe and sound when the Jockey Club purchased it.

Aintree is now more suitable for purpose with vehicle links vastly improved. In the start it had been accessed by rail and paddleboat, but now it is reached by car, coach or air. There is a 6 acre area for landing by helicopter or the John Lennon airstrip 20 minutes drive away, merriment. Meaning visitors to Aintree have a superior experience. Meaning everyone enjoys the English Grand National festival even more.

The Grand National 2010 is the highlight of the racing calendar and the most celebrated racing event in the racing world. Every April forty horses plan to tackle the famous Aintree course. The course is four and one half miles , which has 30 big fences, the National is questionably the hardest test of horse and jockey in the United Kingdom.

Much of the Nationals appeal lies in the challenging conditions of the race. With such a difficult course the odds of a favourite doing well are slim! Of course this makes it exciting for those who follow the race online. Over the last eighty years only a handful favourites have actually won the National. In the last few years the fences have been reduced in size to protect the horses and riders from getting seriously injured but, despite this, it remains one of the most dangerous races in racing.

Sea The Stars Retires

Following Sea The Stars’ captivating victory in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at Longchamp, it has been questioned whether he is the greatest Flat racehorse ever to have existed. The horse bred from Cape Cross and mare Urban Sea has provided horseracing with one of the greatest horses to ever grace the turf. So it has come as a bit of a shock to hear that he is going to be retired. Some, although well able to admit his brilliance refuse to believe that he is one of the three greatest racehorses of all time. Joe Mercer, a former champion jockey who rode Brigadier Gerard in the early 1970s, is one voice of skepticism. He fears that we are in danger of being swept up in the momentary hype, but he remembers horses such as Galileo who won the King George in 2001. Back then everyone thought that Galileo was the best horse that had ever been seen – and as Mercer affirms: you can’t have a best horse you’ve ever seen every other year! He points out that the horse he rode, Brigadier Gerard won thirteen Group Ones, whereas Sea The Stars has only won six.

Others though have been less hesitant to vilify Sea The Stars. Pat Eddery who rode Dancing Brave to victory in the Prix de l’Arc in 1986 has said that Sea The Stars is ‘up there with the best’, and laughed at the suggestion that he might resent the current champion being regarded by many as a better horse than the one he rode.

The Irish Grand National is one of the most exciting steeplechases in the world and the winners board reads like a who’s who of national hunt greats. It is an annual racing even which takes place at Fairyhouse Racecourse in County Meath in the Republic of Ireland, just 12 miles northwest of Dublin. The race traditionally takes place on Easter Monday. The first race took place in 1870, for a prize of 167 sovereigns and was won by Sir Robert Peele. The winner of the second race was Scots Grey who won again in 1875 – the first dual winner of the Irish Grand National. The race has taken place every year since then bar two – 1919 and 1941 due to the First and Second World Wars. The 2010 event will be the 138th running of the race.

The racecourse is 3 miles 5 furlongs short – it is in fact the shortest of the Nationals. But there are 25 fences to clear, which is quite an amount for such a short course. The event is Ireland’s most prestigious steeplechase event, and is a handicap race for horses five years or over. Steeplechasing is the ideal kind of race for staying horses, and although a gruelling race, it is a fair one and attracts the best contenders from around the world.

One of these contenders was Arkle who won the Irish Grand National in 1964. Arkle was so good that two weighting systems were created for the handicap – the first was used when Arkle was running and the second when he wasn’t! This meant that in 1964 he had to carry 2.5 stone more than all the other horses in the race. And he still won! In the same year he won the Cheltenham Gold Cup for the first time. He won 27 out of his 35 races but had to stop racing after he injured his hoof in the King George Chase, and was put down at 13 due to arthritis. His name does however live on as the best steeplechaser ever.

Another legend of the Irish Grand National was Flying Bolt who won the race in 1966. As well as this huge achievement Flying Bolt won at the Cheltenham Festival three times – in 1965 he won the Champion Chase and a day later he came second in the Champion Hurdle. Flying Bolt was trained by the same trainer as Arkle, Tom Dreaper. Flying Bolt contracted Brucellosis aged 7 and he was never the same afterwards, winning only one race until he turned 11 and was retired.

Rhyme N Reason won the Irish Grand National in 1985, one of a very few horses to have won both the Irish and English Grand Nationals. He also won the Grand National and the Racing Post Trophy in the same year – remarkable achievements.

Desert Orchid was another extremely popular steeplechaser who won the Irish Grand National in 1990. Desert Orchid won almost every steeplechase race, including the Whitbread Gold Cup, the Tingle Creek, the Racing Post Chase and the Victor Chandler.

Sea the Stars is the first horse in twenty years to complete the 2,000 Guineas and Derby double, and it was no fluke that he did it either. He is a superb horse with a profusion of the qualities that are necessary in an exceptional racehorse. His jockey Mick Kinane took Sea the Stars to an outstanding victory in his second Derby and the outcome was never at any point in the race in any doubt. It was Kinane’s 21st attempt at the race, and his third time winning it. In fact, the race was probably the perfect pre-birthday wish that Kinane would have wanted as he is to celebrate his 50th birthday in a few weeks time, and he has admitted that Sea the Stars has given him a new lease of life.

Since Sea the Stars’ victory there has been much speculation about a Triple Crown of the Guineas, Derby and St Leger and the 2010 Grand National which has not been done in almost 40 years when Niijinsky claimed the three. However, Sea the Stars’ trainer John Oxx has doubts – he thinks that the colt is going to be very comfortable at a mile and a quarter but the St Leger at Doncaster Racecourse; at one mile, six furlongs and 132 yards; could be a step too far. The Guineas is just over a mile, and four furlongs more didn’t seem to bother him in the slightest but Oxx knows exactly what he’s doing. This Derby is Oxx’s third runner and second win– he won it previously with Sinnadar in 2000, and should have won it with Alamshar who finished third, but he aims to look now towards the Irish Derby at the end of June or the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown a week later. Oxx is realistic though – he would obviously love Sea the Stars to win the Irish Derby at the Curragh, but knows that the horse needs good fast ground, and it is a well known fact that it hasn’t stopped raining in Ireland for about 3 years!

Sea the Stars shows how breeding really does matter in horseracing. Urban Sea, his dam was an Arc winner and has now produced two winners of the Derby, and this breeding could be an indication of how Sea the Stars completed the second leg of the treble with such apparent ease. Oxx has always held Sea the Stars in high esteem, because of his resilient physique and his cool temperament, but not even he could have imagined that he might be contemplating a potential Triple Crown champion, the first since Nijinsky. Bookmakers put the odds on such a feat at 5-4. While Oxx and Kinane are hesitant to put Sea the Stars in for the Leger and the chance to become a Triple Crown champion, the choice may end up being left to Sea the Stars’ owner Christopher Tsui, who at just 27 years of age must be absolutely delighted at his future prize winning potential!