Aintree Racecourse, Liverpool, England

Looking out from the Aintree stands across the flat expanse that holds the Grand National course, in April 2012. The National has been run here since 1839 and is still the longest jumps race in Britain: about four and a quarter miles, two circuits and 30 fences. Becher's Brook, named after the rider who fell into its ditch in that first running, and the towering Chair give the race its fame. It is the one race each April that people across Britain who never bet will have a flutter on.