1843 Grand National 1843 Grand National The 1843 Grand Liverpool Steeplechase was the fifth official annual running of a handicap steeplechase, later to become known as the Grand National Steeplechase handicap horse race which took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool on Wednesday 1 March 1843 and attracted a field of 16 runners. Although recorded by the press at the time as the eighth running of the Grand Liverpool, which was renamed the Grand National in 1847, the first three runnings were poorly organised affairs and are not currently officially recognised. This year the race was run as a handicap, with horses weighted
John Sanford (1851) would become a major figure in the industry. He raced a number of top horses and in 1916 won the Kentucky Derby with his colt, George Smith. In 1923 he became the first American to win the most prestigious steeplechase race in the world when his horse Sergeant Murphy won the English Grand National. In 1923, Sanford won the American Grand National with Best Play. John Sanford was member of the New York Racing Commission and the Sanford Stakes, run annually at Saratoga Race Course, is named in his family's honor. In 1927, John Sanford changed the Hurricana Stock Farm