English: Aintree Racecourse Entrance. The original entrance to Aintree Racecourse. The first official races at Aintree were organised by the owner of Liverpool's Waterloo Hotel, Mr William Lynn who leased the land from Lord Sefton, laid out a course, built a grandstand and staged the first Flat fixture on July 7, 1829. On Tuesday February 26, 1839, Lottery became the first winner of The Grand National. In those days the field had to jump a stone wall (now the water jump), cross a stretch of ploughed land and finish over two hurdles. There was horse-racing in this area in the time of Elizabeth I, no doubt due to the flat nature of the land and the fact that Aintree means "one tree" an obvious tree-free area, this also led to Aintree becoming an important place for flying, a number of pioneer flights were made from here.