By Sophie Brown BBC Sport at Aintree

Predicting the ground conditions has been a real headache for punters in the lead-up to the Grand National.

The week began dry before the rains came and the ground softened up as the three-day meeting got under way.

Strong winds and Aintree's quick-draining course saw the going dry up again but rain is predicted to arrive once again before the runners go to post for the big race at 1610 BST.

Racegoer Emma Shields is clearly a lucky lady, having picked up the keys to a Jaguar X-Type on Friday after winning the Looking Good style contest.

Double Honour is expected to do well

Anyone desperately looking for a Grand National winner and hoping a bit of that good fortune could rub off on them might be interested to hear her comments after winning the competition.

"I've always wanted a silver car - it's my favourite colour," she said.

There are three "silver" (grey) horses running in the Grand National - Double Honour, Strong Resolve and Marcus Du Berlais.

With Aintree announcing record attendances once again for its Grand National meeting, it seems hard to imagine that the famous steeplechase was perilously close to being axed as recently as the 1970s.

The popularity of the famous steeplechase had waned and crowds on the Thursday and Friday in those days numbered 3,000-4,000, compared to the 26,950 on this Thursday and the 53,860 on Friday.

And course officials are estimating that despite the miserable weather, a record crowd of 70,000 will be present for the big day itself.

Aintree's famous enclosed winner's enclosure will welcome its last Grand National victor on Saturday.

Paul Carberry celebrates his Grand National win on Bobbyjo

The wooden structure, which is attached to the weighing room, has seen plenty of celebrations in more than 100 years of existence.

One of the highlights was in 1999 when Paul Carberry swung from the rafters after dismounting from winner Bobbyjo.