Aintree begins the countdown to April's Grand National meeting this weekend with the opening race in the Order of Merit season.
"We are really gearing up now for the start of the new jump season," Aintree marketing executive Emma Owens told BBC Radio Merseyside.
"Sunday is the start of the Order of Merit season.
"That lasts until next year, so the countdown to the Grand National has already begun," she added.
The pick of the action on Saturday sees 15 horses, including Fundamentalist and D'Argent, contest the three-mile Veterans' Handicap Chase.
Sunday's racing includes the first race in the 2008/2009 Order of Merit, the £70,000 Grade Two Old Roan Chase.
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