1839 Grand National 1839 Grand National The 1839 Grand Liverpool Steeplechase was the first official annual running of a steeplechase which later became known as the Grand National. It was held at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on Tuesday 26 February 1839 and attracted a field of 17 runners. Although recorded by the press at the time as the fourth running of the Grand Liverpool Steeplechase, which was renamed the Grand National in 1847, the first three runnings were poorly organised affairs. This year the race came under new management and the arrival of the railway in Liverpool made travel to the course
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