Aintree is a racecourse in the northwest of England, just outside Liverpool. Once a year it holds the Grand National, a very long horse race in which the horses jump over big, stiff fences. Even people who never watch racing have often heard of that race, so the name Aintree travels with it. It is a place for racing, not a city you visit for other reasons, though the name also belongs to the area round the course. The day can feel like a big British outing: crowds, hats, bets, and then a race that is famous partly because it is hard and, at times, dangerous. You will meet the word in sports news and in older British talk about 'going to Aintree'. It is a place-name, always with a capital A.