While all 16 fences still look the same, the heart of four obstacles has been changed. When it was first run at Aintree in 1839, the race featured a solid brick wall as one of the obstacles, although that was abandoned after five years.Īhead of the 2013 renewal, some of the fences were re-designed for safety reasons and to aid animal welfare. “Water tastes disgusting without the benefits of whisky” he reflected and the obstacle bore his name from that day. Each fence is made from a wooden frame and covered with the distinctive green spruce.īecher’s Brook, the sixth fence on the first circuit, was named after Captain Martin Becher who was unseated from his mount, Conrad, and fell into the ditch when leading in the first ever Grand National in 1839. The fence-building programme starts approximately three weeks before the Grand National meeting is run, with around 150 tonnes of spruce branches sourced and transported from forests in the Lake District. Photo by vegaseddie is licensed under CC BY 2.0Īs well as its fascinating past, Aintree’s unique course contributes to the mystique surrounding the event.
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