2008 Grand National 2008 Grand National The 2008 Grand National (known as the John Smith's Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 161st official annual running of the world-famous Grand National steeplechase which took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 5 April 2008 and attracted the maximum permitted field of 40 runners, competing for total prize money of £450,640. Joint-favourite Comply or Die and Irish jockey Timmy Murphy won the race (it was Murphy's eleventh attempt at the National), four lengths ahead of King John's Castle in second place and Snowy Morning in third. Cloudy Lane, ridden by Jason Maguire, was
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