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
Steeplechase (horse racing) meetings there is also a need for portable jumps. Most chasing occurs on steeple lanes but also includes parts of the main flat racing track. From Easter to May the major distance races occur: The Great Eastern Steeplechase is held on Easter Monday at Oakbank, South Australia drawing crowds of over 100,000, and the Grand Annual, which has the most fences of any steeplechase in the world, is held in May at Warrnambool. Each state holds its own Grand National race: the most prestigious is the VRC Grand National at Flemington run in the winter. The jumping season culminates with