1981 Grand National

From Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

1981 Grand National
Grand National
LocationAintree Racecourse
Date4 April 1981
Winning horseEngland Aldaniti
Starting price10/1
JockeyEngland Bob Champion
TrainerEngland Josh Gifford
OwnerNick Embiricos
ConditionsGood
← 1980
1982 →
External videos
video icon 1981 Grand National in full BBC Sport/YouTube
video icon 1981 Grand National in full BBC Sport/YouTube

It’s Aldaniti in the lead but being pressed now by Spartan Missile. It’s Aldaniti from Spartan Missile and here comes John Thorne, 54 year old John Thorne putting in a storming finish. It’s Aldaniti from Spartan Missile. Aldaniti is gonna win it, at the line, Aldaniti wins the National!

BBC commentator Peter O'Sullevan describes the climax of the race

The 1981 Grand National (officially known as The Sun Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 135th renewal of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 4 April 1981.

It is remembered for the winning horse Aldaniti, who had recovered from chronic leg problems, and his jockey Bob Champion, who had recovered from cancer. Aldaniti's injuries dated back to 1976, while Champion had been diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1979. However, Aldaniti was nursed back to optimum form ahead of the race, and Champion overcame lengthy hospitalisation and chemotherapy to win the National by a distance of four lengths.[1] In second place was the 8/1 favourite, Spartan Missile, ridden by 54-year-old amateur jockey and grandfather John Thorne.[2] The story of Bob Champion and Aldaniti was made into a film Champions, with John Hurt portraying Champion. The film is based on Champion's book Champion's Story, which he co-wrote with close friend and racing journalist and broadcaster Jonathan Powell.

Finishing order

[edit]
Position Horse Jockey Age Handicap (st-lb) SP Distance
01 Aldaniti Bob Champion 11 10-13 10/1 4 lengths
02 Spartan Missile John Thorne 9 11-5 8/1 F
03 Royal Mail Philip Blacker 11 11-7 16/1
04 Three To One Geordie Dun 10 10-3 33/1
05 Senator Maclacury John Burke 7 10-12 20/1
06 Royal Exile Ben De Haan 12 10-0 16/1
07 Rubstic Maurice Barnes 12 10-7 11/1
08 Coolishall Bill Smith 12 10-3 25/1
09 Rathlek Paul Barton 11 10-1 50/1
10 So John Francome 12 10-8 40/1
11 Sebastian V Ridley Lamb 13 10-2 33/1
12 Cheers Peter Scudamore 9 10-0 20/1 Last to finish

Non-finishers

[edit]
Fence Horse Jockey Age Weight (st-lb) SP Fate
01 Another Captain Colin Hawkins 9 10-0 40/1 Fell
01 Barney Maclyvie Martin Lynch 10 10-8 33/1 Unseated rider
04 Bryan Boru John Carden 10 10-0 100/1 Refused
04 Delmoss Frank Berry 11 10-1 50/1 Fell
04 Kilkilwell Niall Madden 9 10-6 33/1 Refused
06 (Becher's Brook) Chumson Aiden O'Connell 10 11-7 50/1 Fell
08 (Canal Turn) Another Prospect Jim Wilson 9 10-8 40/1 Fell
09 (Valentine's) Drumroan Marcus Graffe 13 10-6 50/1 Unseated rider
09 (Valentine's) No Gypsy John Suthern 12 10-0 100/1 Fell
10 Carrow Boy Gerry Newman 9 11-6 33/1 Fell
10 Kininvie Philip Hobbs 12 10-0 100/1 Unseated rider
11 (open ditch) Tenecoon Charlie Mann 12 10-0 100/1 Unseated rider
13 Lord Gulliver Colin Brown 8 10-0 50/1 Fell
15 (The Chair) Dromore Peter Duggan 13 10-8 100/1 Refused
17 Kylogue Lady Richard Quinn 9 10-0 100/1 Fell
19 (open ditch) Deiopea Linda Sheedy 10 10-0 100/1 Refused
19 (open ditch) Son and Heir Sam Morshead 11 10-0 100/1 Refused
19 (open ditch) The Vintner Chris Grant 10 10-8 20/1 Refused
20 Royal Stuart Hywel Davies 10 10-2 16/1 Unseated rider
22 (Becher's Brook) Pacify Steve Jobar 11 10-0 50/1 Fell
22 (Becher's Brook) Zongalero Steve Smith-Eccles 11 10-11 14/1 Fell
24 (Canal Turn) Three Of Diamonds Paul Leach 9 10-4 100/1 Fell
26 Might Be Anthony Webber 10 10-0 50/1 Fell
27 (open ditch) Choral Festival Marcus Low 10 10-2 66/1 Unseated rider
27 (open ditch) Martinstown Malcolm Batters 9 10-7 33/1 Unseated rider
27 (open ditch) My Friendly Cousin Alan Brown 11 10-2 100/1 Pulled up
28 Casamayor Paul Webber 11 10-6 100/1 Refused

[3][4][5]

Media coverage

[edit]

David Coleman presented Grand National Grandstand on the BBC in what turned out being one of the most famous National's of all-time.

Aftermath

[edit]

The story of Champion and Aldaniti become known as Racing's greatest fairytale, and has become a lasting inspiration to people battling cancer ever since. Two years after the victory, the Bob Champion Cancer Trust was created [6] and the story inspired a movie of Bob's own personal battle to get fit to ride in the National the following year, called Champions starring John Hurt.[7]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Aldaniti 1981 Grand National". Grand National Guide. 11 March 2010. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  2. ^ "BBC News | GRAND NATIONAL | The Grand National 1956-1999". news.bbc.co.uk. 4 March 2000. Archived from the original on 8 September 2007. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  3. ^ "Aldaniti & the 1981 Grand National - Result & Analysis". Aldaniti81.webs.com. Archived from the original on 19 August 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2014.
  4. ^ The Grand National : the history of the Aintree spectacular, by Stewart Peters & Bernard Parkin, ISBN 0-7524-3547-7
  5. ^ "Grand National Anorak |". Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 16 June 2013.
  6. ^ "The Bob Champion Cancer Trust". www.bobchampion.org.uk.
  7. ^ "Champions (1984) - IMDb". IMDb.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=1981_Grand_National&oldid=1225763803"