Aintree race course is one of the most legendary racecourses in the country and is sited on the A59 at Ormskirk Road, Aintree (Liverpool) in the northern outer edge of Liverpool, just six miles from the metropolitan centre. The race course occupies 250 acres and has two left-handed racing tracks. The first, the Mildmay Course is rectangular and opened in 1953. It is nearly one and a half miles in length, with sharp turns and chase jumps. The John Smiths Grand National race isn’t as sharp as the Mildmay course but is much more severe which is why it is known as one of the hardest races in the world – one which all horse trainers would wish to secure entry to. The
John Smiths Grand National course is far longer than the Mildmay at more or less two and a quarter miles, and is completely flat, with jumps that have a decline on the landing side lesser than the take-off side.

William Lynn is the chap accountable for bringing racing to the community of Aintree. Lynn was the landholder of the Waterloo Lodge, and created racing on the land which he leased from the Earl of Sefton. The main stand started being built in 1829 and after five months the first appointment for Flat races was held. They didn’t start hurdle steeple chase racing until 1836, when the first Liverpool Grand Steeplechase was held at Aintree on February 29th. This race was recognised by some as being the first ever John Smiths Grand National and was won by The Duke, ridden by Captain Martin Becher. However, the more renowned Liverpool Grand Steeplechase of 1839 is celebrated as the first, and was won by Lottery, ridden by Jem Mason. The steeplechase of 1839 was a four miler, across country, and the directive was that no rider to open a gate or ride through a opening, or more than 100 yards along any road, causeway or driftway.

The race course was handed over to the War Office in 1915, and after the 1940 National it was again taken over by the war office. Steeple chase racing resumed in 1946 and in 1949 the race course was bought by Messrs Topham Ltd; who had leased the property for almost a century; from the Earl of Sefton for 275,000. Mirabel Topham, an innovative soul, went on to create the Mildmay course and a racing car circuit which held the European Grand Prix and five British Grand Prix.

Bill Davies bought the race course in 1973 for 3 million and in 1975 Ladbrokes saved the John Smiths Grand National, which was in jeopardy of disappearing, by running and administering it for 7 years at a yearly rent of 250,000. In 1983 the race course was deemed secure when the Jockey Club bought it.

Aintree is now more fit for purpose with transport links greatly 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 field for landing by copter or the John Lennon airfield 20 minutes drive away, meaning that those both home and abroad can share in the celebrations.

To settle a bet means calculating how much a winning bet is worth, most of which nowadays is done by computer systems. However the computer is only as good as the information being entered into the computer so it is worthwhile knowing how to spot a mistake should it happen.

Betting odds are usually expressed as a fraction which represents the fraction of your stake that you will win if your selection wins eg: 20/1 (twenty to one), which means that for every one stake, you will win 20 stakes, but as you will get your stake back, the total amount returned in this example will be 21 stakes.

Single bet: for example this is a simply bet on say the Grand National that a particular runner will win a race and to calculate what you could win you multiply the basic factor by the stake eg: £5 win at 5/1 is 5 x 6 = £30.

Betting each-way: Putting a bet on each way really means placing two bets – The first bet is a standard win bet, and the second bet is if the runner finishes anywhere in the first three places (some bookies have a finish in the first four policy while others have a first five – for example Paddy Power did this for the Grand National). Settling an each-way bet isn’t as difficult as it may seem – You multiply the fractional odds by the place factor, which will give you the each-way basic factor, then add one or two, depending on whether the selection was placed or won.

If you place an each-way bet on a horse in an eight runner race and your horse, which has odds of 15/1 comes second in the race, then the win part of the each-way bet wouldn’t get you any winnings but the place part does achieve a win eg: 15/1 multiplied by the place factor (1/5 for 8-runner races) plus one (to include the place part of your stake) which works out as: 15/1 * 0.2 + 1 = £4.00.

If you were lucky enough that your horse won the race, the each-way factor would be calculated as 15/1 multiplied by the win factor and the place factor (the place factor plus one = 1.2), plus two (your two stakes) which works out as 15/1 * 1.2 + 2 = £20.00. This new each-way basic factor is then multiplied by the each-way stake to get the settlement figure.