The Chair

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For the method of execution nicknamed "the Chair", see electric chair.

For the game show, see The Chair (game show).

The Chair is a fence jumped during the Grand National horse race at Aintree Racecourse, Liverpool, England.

It is one of only two fences (the other being the Water Jump) in the race to be negotiated only once, and is the fifteenth fence in the race that the runners and riders tackle.

Positioned in front of the grandstands, it is the tallest fence in the race, at about 5 feet 2 inches, with a 6 foot open ditch positioned on the take off side of the fence. The Chair is also comfortably the narrowest fence on the Grand National course.

Generally it is jumped fairly safely by most horses in the Grand National field, most probably due to the fairly lengthy run they have to the fence, and because, by the time the fence is approached, most of the runners have settled into a smooth running rhythm.

The Chair's most notorious pile up occurred during the 1979 Grand National, won by Rubstic. Two riderless horses veered across the main body of the runners and contributed to the falls or refusals of nine horses. For the following year's race, channels were installed around the fence so that loose horses reluctant to negotiate the obstacle were able to run around it rather than jump over it.

The current name (named after the chair sited alongside the fence, at which a judge used to sit) came into vogue at the turn of the century, prior that it was known as the Monument fence or Made fence.