1846 Grand National 1846 Grand National The 1846 Grand Liverpool Steeplechase was the eighth official annual running of a Handicap Steeple-chase, later to become known as the Grand National Steeplechase Horse race which took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool on Wednesday 4 March 1846 and attracted a then-record field of 22 entrants. It was won by the unconsidered outsider Pioneer. Veluti, ridden by Jem Mason, a rider who had previously won the race in 1839 was sent off as the 11/2 favourite to win while the top weight of 12 stone 8 lbs was given to Firefly, the mount of Larry Byrne.
Grand National are jumped twice. Horses completing the race cover a distance of , the longest of any National Hunt race in Britain. As part of a review of safety following the 2012 running of the event, from 2013 to 2015 the start was moved forward away from the crowds and grandstands, reducing the race distance by from the historical . The course has one of the longest run-ins from the final fence of any steeplechase, at . The Grand National was designed as a cross-country steeplechase when it was first officially run in 1839. The runners started at a lane on