1983 Grand National 1983 Grand National The 1983 Grand National (Known as the 1983 Sun Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 137th renewal of the world-famous Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 9 April 1983. The race was won by Corbiere, the first Grand National winner to have been trained by a female trainer in Jenny Pitman. His jockey was Ben de Haan. The favourite of the 41-strong field was last year's winner Grittar, at odds of 7/1. Going over Valentine's, the 23rd fence, Corbiere held a four-length advantage over his nearest challenger, Greasepaint.
Jenny Pitman In 1983 she became the first woman to train a Grand National winner, when Corbiere was the victor. She was to win one other Grand National with Royal Athlete in 1995 although her horse Esha Ness was first past the post in the void National of 1993. In 1998 she was awarded the OBE for services to horseracing and subsequently retired from training racehorses in 1999, handing over the reins to son, Mark. Pitman was the first winner of the Helen Rollason award at the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year Awards. Although still seen at the races, she is