2006 Grand National failed to reach the finishing post. Official BBC coverage of the 2006 Grand National 2006 Grand National The 2006 Grand National (known as the John Smith's Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 159th official annual running of the Grand National steeplechase which took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England, on 8 April 2006 and attracted the maximum permitted field of forty competitors for total prize money of £689,360 including £399,140 to the winner. 11–1 Irish shot Numbersixvalverde, ridden by Niall Madden, won the race, ahead of 5–1 joint-favourite and the previous year's winner Hedgehunter in second place. The other
Grand Steeple-Chase des Flandres Grand Steeple-Chase des Flandres The (; "great steeplechase of Flanders") is a horserace held annually at the Hippodrome Waregem in Waregem, Belgium. It is the centrepiece of the ("Waregem Races") meeting, held on the Tuesday of the , a kermesse which begins on the weekend of the last Sunday in August. Local businesses often close for the kermesse. The race is sometimes described as the Belgian Grand National, by analogy with the (English) Grand National. It has a distance of 4600m, with 25 obstacles, the most spectacular of which is the water jump across the Gaverbeek river, which is in