Catapulted over the head of his mount and into a stream 169 years ago in the Grand Liverpool Steeplechase, Captain Martin Becher is reputed to have ventured that until then he hadn't realised how "dreadful water tastes without whisky in it".

Catapulted over the head of his mount and into a stream 169 years ago in the Grand Liverpool Steeplechase, Captain Martin Becher is reputed to have ventured that until then he hadn't realised how "dreadful water tastes without whisky in it".

According to contemporary reports, his horse, Conrad, dumped him in there twice. This happened 169 years ago tomorrow, but the brook still bears his name. For this was the race now acknowledged as the first Grand National.

A course had been laid there by a local inn-keeper, who sponsored hare-coursing's Waterloo Cup, and work began on a grandstand in 1829, when the first Flat race was staged there.

The first steeplechase was hosted in February 1836, after the following advert had appeared: "A sweepstakes of 10 sovereigns. Each with 80 sovereigns added, for horses of all denominations, 12st each, gentlemen riders, second horse receives back his stake. Winner to be sold for 200 sovereigns, if demanded."

A report of the day stated: "The first steeplechase ever run in the neighbourhood of Liverpool came off in enclosed ground near Aintree racecourse."

It was won by Captain Becher on The Duke. He was supposed to saddle the same horse the next year, when the event was moved to Maghull, but had been racing at Saint Albans the previous day and failed to arrive in time. The following year, also at Maghull, he finished third, on The Duke.

Some records dispute Maghull as the venue for these two races, but February 26, 1839, is regarded as the first official Grand National.

A total of 17 "gentlemen riders" lined up for the race over 29 obstacles (one less than today) and a course said to be "four miles across country".

The distance was probably more (it's four-and-a-half now) and the captain, like most of the jockeys, was a professional. Fences were generally banks, with or with-out ditches. There were two brooks, each to be taken twice, and a stone wall, which is now the water jump. There was also a stretch of ploughed land.

The picture above gives an idea of the scene. Lottery (ridden by Jem Mason) with a white blaze, is approaching the stream. The favourite, The Nun, is clearing the water ahead of him (jockey wearing striped jacket). The horse which finished second, Seventy Four, is jumping the water on the extreme left. Behind him, in the background, can be seen top-hatted followers of the action. On the right skyline is the grandstand. A crowd which was estimated at 50,000 saw Lottery win at 5-1.

In 1847, the race was given the title Grand National Handicap Steeplechase, which it carries today.

It has consistently been fertile turf for myth and legend. Typical of these is the one about Moifaa . . . shipped from New Zealand and wrecked in the Irish Sea.

The crew could not get it into a lifeboat. Later, a fishing boat found the exhausted Moifaa on an uninhabited island and took him on board. He was variously reported to have swum between 20 and 50 miles, yet then went on to win the 1904 Grand National.

All complete fiction!

Another horse in the 1904 race, Kiora, had been shipwrecked en route from New Zealand, near the Cape of Good Hope. Never spoil a good story with the facts: Moifaa is still frequently cited as having survived shipwreck.

Kiora finished nowhere.