Aintree Opens Gates To Local Community
Aintree Racecourse, home of The Crabbie’s Grand National, will be giving free access to people in the local community for The Betfred Becher Chase Raceday on Saturday 6th December, with a new initiative being supported by Racing UK.
The Betfred Becher Chase – a Grade Three National Hunt chase with a £140,000 prize purse – will be cheered on by the people of Merseyside ‘to show its commitment and gratitude to the local community,’ according to the Racecourse.
The initiative has been driven by Racing UK, which has organised free entry at many of its 34 racecourses between 15th October to 31st March.
On the day, racegoers will be able to see some of the country’s leading horses and jockeys compete over The Grand National fences for the first time in the 2014/5 jumps season and it will act as an early season trial for The Crabbie’s Grand National in April 2015 – the second year of the sponsorship with Halewood International owned Crabbie’s Alcoholic Ginger Beer.
As well as the Chase, the Betfred Grand Sefton will also be run over The Grand National fences on the day, as well as the launch of Aintree’s new Community Programme, which will aim to provide opportunities and make a difference to children and adults in Merseyside.
The Aintree Community Programme will involve working in collaboration with Liverpool FC Foundation, Everton in the Community, Alder Hey Hospital, The Walton Centre as well as other organisations, to provide a variety of inspiring opportunities to support people in the community.
John Baker, North West Regional Director for Jockey Club Racecourses, commented: ‘Aintree Racecourse is primarily a racing venue, but in reality it is much more, it is part of the cultural landscape of Liverpool and a world renowned sporting venue for the people of Merseyside.’
‘We are delighted to give free access to people in our community to enjoy some fantastic racing over The Grand National fences as well as having a great day out.’
‘We are also really pleased to launch our new long term community programme to help improve people’s lives in Merseyside. This is a great new project that we are all extremely passionate about and we look forward to working with our partners to help support the community.’
Betfred spokesperson, Mark Pearson, added: ‘We are a North West based company and we are delighted by this initiative to give the opportunity for local people to watch top-quality racing for free.’
Free tickets can be obtained by visiting www.aintree.thejockeyclub.co.uk.
