Sneering a non-runner at Aintree’s Ladies’ Day

It has become a tradition as much as the horse racing, but this year bosses at the Grand National will aim to cover the modesty of Liverpool ladies with a ban on unflattering photographs.

One of the annual highlights of the world’s greatest steeplechase meeting has been Ladies’ Day, a firm fixture on the north-west’s social calendar and frequented by celebrity WAGs such as Colleen Rooney and Alex Curran.

However, the parade of ostentatious hats, risque dresses, and impressive tans worn by sometimes well-refreshed women has led to accusations of southern media using the event to sneer at northern ladies simply enjoying a day at the races by catching them in unflattering poses.

And this year Aintree intends to act, with John Baker, managing director of the racecourse, warning it is time to stop what it sees as unfair coverage which does not represent its customers or the city of Liverpool.

“We want to overwhelm the negativity, to push the positivity to the front,” Baker told the Liverpool Echo. “Our event is full of character, it’s fun, and that’s generated by the personality of the Liverpool people.

“We have to absolutely protect that because it’s at the core of what we are, and we have a responsibility to our customers to project the correct image.

“We have talked about trying to monitor those photographers, so if we see any element clearly looking for a negative shot and we can identify that, we will take their accreditation off them and we’ll kick them off the site. That’s not easily manageable, but that’s what we’ll endeavour to do.”