Aintree Race Course
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The Grand National's main racing event is the steeplechase. This event is very demanding and out of the 40 horses that start it only around 16 finish it. This is the most famous fence - called Bechers Brook. The Head Groundsman, Mark Aynsley, is showing us that the landing side of the fence is much lower than the front.
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After we walked around the horse track we were allowed to enter the hospitality area. This was a beautiful little building that had a full bar and a ton of pictures and memorabilia from past races and jockeys. We then moved from the hospitality area to the place where they show the horses. After this we were allowed to see the jockeys changing room and weigh room. It was crazy to actually see how small some of them were! After we saw the weighing and changing room we were able to see the groundsman's workshop.
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The grounds staff had a lot of the same equipment you would see in any equipment shop except it was about ten times the normal size. The verti-drain spikes were as big as my head! After we saw the workshop we were able to see the rest of the race track, golf course, bowling green, and soccer pitches. It was quite the trip. The amazing thing to me was the fact that it is only open nine race days out of the year. This just blew my mind. Here is a world class racing facility and its only open nine days out of the year. Also, to cover all of this ground they only had seven people on staff to look over a world class race course, golf course, bowling green, soccer pitches, horse stables, and several buildings.
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OSU Students with Red Rum, the most beloved horse in Britain. He got into the record books by winning the Grand National 3 times and being runner-up twice. He died in 1995 aged 30 and was buried at the winning post.
Authors: Marc Danneberger
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