2001 Grand National Bromley who had announced that this would be his last commentary of the National, his first having been in 1960. He was joined by Lee McKenzie, Cornelius Lysaght and Dave Smith. The race was also streamed live on the Internet using BBC pictures to an undisclosed audience. 2001 Grand National The 2001 Grand National (known as the Martell Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 154th official running of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 7 April 2001. The steeplechase was won by a distance by 33/1 shot Red Marauder, ridden
English Channel (horse) Downs. This race was his graded-stakes debut, as the Virginia Derby was a Grade III event at that time. After taking a few missteps on the backstretch, he recovered and won by 3 1/4 lengths, marking his fourth straight victory and his first career graded stakes win. From Colonial Downs, the Grand Slam of Grass moved to Arlington Park for the third leg: the Secretariat Stakes. Going into the race as the favorite in his Grade I debut, English Channel was halfway to becoming the first horse to complete the Grand Slam of Grass. After racing alongside Purim, English Channel