2001 Grand National 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 by jockey Richard Guest, in a time of over 11 minutes. The winner was also trained by his jockey and owned by Norman Mason, in whose name the training licence was held, with Guest as his assistant, though Guest did all the training at his base in
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