The first races at Aintree were run in 1829 and were organised by a syndicate that leased the land from Lord Sefton and set out a course with a grandstand. The first races were flat races and it was some years later in 1835 that the first jump races were held.

On Tuesday 26th February 1839 the first Grand Liverpool Steeplechase was run over 2 circuits and 20 fences including a stone wall and was won by a horse called Lottery ridden by Jem Mason, trained by George Dockeray and owned by John Elmore.

Mr Edward William Topham, a member of the original syndicate and a respected handicapper, was responsible for turning the race into a handicap race in 1843 and The Grand Liverpool Steeplechase was renamed the Liverpool and National Steeplechase in the same year. The race was renamed again in 1847 to The Grand National.

In 1973 the Aintree racecourse was sold to property developer Bill Davies who trippled admission prices in 1975 and attendance dropped. Later in 1975 Ladbrokes made an agreement with Davies to manage the Grand National which they did for many years but then Davies refused to renew the agreement and announced his intention to sell Aintree. In 1982, the Grand National Appeal was set up to rescue the race and a new contract was drawn up between Davies and the Jockey Club who began fundraising to generate money towards purchasing the course. However, this was not enough and in 1984, Seagram Distillers stepped in to sponsor the Grand National and this enabled the course to finally be purchased by the Jockey Club who now manage and run the race.

Seagram sponsored the race up to 1991, and Martell Cognac, a Seagram subsidiary at the time, took over sponsorship of the Grand National and the rest of the meeting in 1992 and this continued until 2004. In 2005 sponsorship of the Grand National was taken up by John Smith's, a subsidiary of Scottish & Newcastle and the prize money was immediately increased from £100,000 to £700,000, and later to £800,000. John Smith's sponsorship will continue to 2010.