2006 Grand National

The 2006 Grand National (known as the John Smith's Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 159th official annual running of the Grand National steeplechase which took place at Aintree near Liverpool, England, on 8 April 2006 and attracted the maximum permitted field of forty competitors for total prize money of £689,360 including £399,140 to the winner.

11-1 Irish shot Numbersixvalverde, ridden by Niall 'Slippers' Madden, won the race, ahead of 5-1 joint-favourite and the previous year's winner Hedgehunter in second place. The other joint-favourite, Clan Royal, was deemed third in a photo finish ahead of Nil Desperandum at 33-1. Nine of the forty runners completed the course, the fewest since 2001.

Read more about 2006 Grand National:  Runners and Betting, The Race, Finishing Order, Non-finishers, Aftermath, Coverage, Jockeys

Famous quotes containing the words grand and/or national:

    “You have a grand gift of silence, Watson,” said he, “it makes you quite invaluable as a companion.”
    Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (1859–1930)

    I foresee the time when the painter will paint that scene, no longer going to Rome for a subject; the poet will sing it; the historian record it; and, with the Landing of the Pilgrims and the Declaration of Independence, it will be the ornament of some future national gallery, when at least the present form of slavery shall be no more here. We shall then be at liberty to weep for Captain Brown. Then, and not till then, we will take our revenge.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)