Grand National the run-in and, two strides from the finishing post, he pipped the tiring Crisp to win by three-quarters of a length in what is arguably the most memorable Grand National of all time. Red Rum finished in 9 minutes 1.9 seconds, taking 18.3 seconds off the previous record for the National which had been set in 1935 by Reynoldstown. His record was to stand for the next seventeen years. Two years before the 1981 Grand National, jockey Bob Champion had been diagnosed with testicular cancer and given only months to live by doctors. But by 1981 he had recovered and
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.