Editing Grand National (section)

===Founding and early Nationals (1829–1850)===
[[Image:Becher's Brook, 1890.jpg|right|frame|1890 engraving of horses jumping the famous [[Becher's Brook]] fence in the Grand National.]]
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| video1 = [http://www.britishpathe.com/video/the-aintree-story/ A television item on the history of the Grand National, broadcast in 1969] (British Pathé)
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The Grand National was founded by William Lynn, a syndicate head and proprietor of the [[Waterloo Hotel]], on land he leased in [[Aintree]] from [[William Molyneux, 2nd Earl of Sefton]].<ref>[http://www.tbheritage.com/TurfHallmarks/racecharts/Steeplechase/GrandNationalEarly.html Grand National History] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100412193356/http://www.tbheritage.com/TurfHallmarks/racecharts/Steeplechase/GrandNationalEarly.html |date=12 April 2010 }}. Tbheritage.com. Retrieved on 11 March 2011.</ref><ref>[http://www.grand-national-world.co.uk/gnw/the_race/history.html The history of the Grand National] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716140155/http://www.grand-national-world.co.uk/gnw/the_race/history.html |date=16 July 2011 }}. Grand-national-world.co.uk. Retrieved on 11 March 2011.</ref><ref name=aintreehistory>{{cite web |url=http://www.aintree.co.uk/pages/history-of-the-grand-national/ |title=History of the Grand National - The Worlds Greatest Jump Race |access-date=4 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110202020717/http://www.aintree.co.uk/pages/history-of-the-grand-national/ |archive-date=2 February 2011 }}</ref> Lynn set out a course, built a grandstand, and Lord Sefton laid the foundation stone on 7 February 1829.<ref name=aintreehistory/> There is much debate regarding the first official Grand National; most leading published historians, including John Pinfold, now prefer the idea that the first running was in [[1836 Grand National|1836]] and was won by [[The Duke (racehorse)|The Duke]].<ref name=tbh>{{cite web |last=Mutlow |first=Mick |title=The Birth of The Grand National: The Real Story |publisher=Thoroughbred Heritage |date=15 June 2009 |url=http://www.tbheritage.com/TurfHallmarks/racecharts/Steeplechase/GrandNationalEarly.html |access-date=8 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100412193356/http://www.tbheritage.com/TurfHallmarks/racecharts/Steeplechase/GrandNationalEarly.html |archive-date=12 April 2010 }}</ref> This same horse won again in [[1837 Grand National|1837]],<ref>{{cite web|title=From first to last – Race history|publisher=icLiverpool|date=17 June 2009|url=http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0560grandnational/0075news/tm_headline=from-first-to-last-race-history%26method=full%26objectid=11007877%26siteid=50061-name_page.html|access-date=8 April 2010|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110614134930/http://icliverpool.icnetwork.co.uk/0560grandnational/0075news/tm_headline%3Dfrom-first-to-last-race-history%26method%3Dfull%26objectid%3D11007877%26siteid%3D50061-name_page.html|archive-date=14 June 2011}}</ref> while [[Sir William (horse)|Sir William]] was the winner in [[1838 Grand National|1838]].<ref name="the-grand-national.co.uk">[http://the-grand-national.co.uk/history/1836/ Grand National History 1839 – 1836] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110221095749/http://the-grand-national.co.uk/history/1836/ |date=21 February 2011 }}. The-grand-national.co.uk. Retrieved on 11 March 2011.</ref> These races have long been disregarded because of the belief that they took place at [[Maghull]] and not Aintree. However, some historians have unearthed evidence in recent years that suggests those three races were run over the same course at Aintree and were regarded as having been Grand Nationals up until the mid-1860s.<ref name=tbh/> Contemporary newspaper reports place all the 1836–38 races at Aintree although the 1839 race is the first described as "national".<ref name="The Skittish Library">[http://www.skittishlibrary.co.uk/the-grand-national-anomaly-1836-1838/ The Grand National Anomaly 1836–1838] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402110240/http://skittishlibrary.co.uk/the-grand-national-anomaly-1836-1838/ |date=2 April 2015 }}. www.skittishlibrary.co.uk. 28 March 2015.</ref> However, calls for the Nationals of 1836–1838 to be restored to the record books have been unsuccessful. 

In 1838 and 1839 three significant events occurred to transform the race from a small local affair to a national event. Firstly, the Great St. Albans Chase, which had clashed with the steeplechase at Aintree, was not renewed after 1838,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://sportinglandmarks.co.uk/?author=1&paged=2 |first=Ian |last=Volans |title=BBC SPOTY 2010 – the nominees |publisher=sportinglandmarks.co.uk |access-date=11 March 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827190419/http://sportinglandmarks.co.uk/?author=1&paged=2 |archive-date=27 August 2011 }}</ref> leaving a major hole in the chasing calendar. Secondly, the railway, opened from Manchester to Liverpool in 1830, was linked to a line from London and Birmingham in 1839 enabling rail transport to the Liverpool area from large parts of the country for the first time. Finally, a committee was formed to better organise the event.<ref>[http://www.tbheritage.com/TurfHallmarks/Jumphiststeeple.html Steeplechasing Notes] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170724100059/http://www.tbheritage.com/TurfHallmarks/Jumphiststeeple.html |date=24 July 2017 }}. Tbheritage.com. Retrieved on 11 March 2011.</ref> These factors led to a more highly publicised race in 1839 which attracted a larger field of top quality horses and riders, greater press coverage, and increased attendance on race day. Over time the first three runnings of the event were quickly forgotten to secure the [[1839 Grand National|1839 race]] its place in history as the first official Grand National. 

The 1839 race was won by rider [[Jem Mason]] on the aptly named, [[Lottery (horse)|Lottery]].<ref name="the-grand-national.co.uk" /><ref name="nostalgia">Haywood, Linda. (4 April 2008) [http://www.popular-nostalgia.com/a-big-long-history-of-the-grand-national-258/ A Big Long History of the Grand National] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006141420/http://www.popular-nostalgia.com/a-big-long-history-of-the-grand-national-258/ |date=6 October 2014 }}. Popular Nostalgia. Retrieved on 11 March 2011.</ref><ref name="grandnationalhistory">{{cite web|url=https://www.thejockeyclub.co.uk/the-grand-national/about-the-event/grand-national-event-history/|title=Event History|website=www.thejockeyclub.co.uk|accessdate=18 October 2023}}</ref> The Duke was ridden by [[Martin Becher]]. The fence [[Becher's Brook]] is named after him and is where he fell in the race.<ref name="History of Victorian Liverpool">[http://historyofliverpool.com/liverpool-victorian-society/ History of Victorian Liverpool] ''historyofliverpool.com''</ref>

By the 1840s, Lynn's ill-health blunted his enthusiasm for Aintree. Edward Topham, a respected handicapper and prominent member of Lynn's syndicate, began to exert greater influence over the National. He turned the chase into a handicap in [[1843 Grand National|1843]]<ref name=nostalgia/> after it had been a weight-for-age race for the first four years, and took over the land lease in 1848. One century later, the Topham family bought the course outright.<ref name=aintreehistory/>

Later in the century, the race was the setting of a thriller by the popular novelist [[Henry Hawley Smart]].<ref>''Cleverly Won. A Romance of the Grand National. A Novelette'' (London: F. V. White, 1887)</ref>