2011 Grand National 2011 Grand National The 2011 Grand National (known as the John Smith's Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 164th renewal of the world-famous Grand National horse race held at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England. The showpiece steeplechase began at 4:15 pm BST on 9 April 2011, the final day of the three-day annual meeting. The maximum permitted field of forty runners competed for prize money totalling a record £950,000, making it the highest valued National Hunt race in the United Kingdom. Nineteen of the forty participants completed the 4½-mile course; of the 21 who did not, two suffered fatal
Steeplechase (horse racing) day race-meet. It is the richest event in American steeplechasing with a purse of $500,000. During the 1940s and 50s, the Broad Hollow Steeplechase Handicap, the Brook National Steeplechase Handicap and the American Grand National were regarded as American steeplechasing's Triple Crown. Kentucky Downs near Franklin, Kentucky (originally Dueling Grounds Race Course) was built in 1990 as a steeplechase track, with a kidney-shaped turf circuit. At its inception, the track offered some of the richest purses in the history of American steeplechase including a $750,000 race. The track has undergone numerous ownership changes, with steeplechase races playing an on-and-off role