Champions (1984 film) Champions (1984 film) Champions is a 1984 film based on the true story of jockey Bob Champion. It is directed by John Irvin, produced by Peter Shaw, written by Evan Jones, and stars John Hurt, Edward Woodward and Jan Francis. The film is based on the true story of Bob Champion (portrayed by John Hurt), who was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 1979. After treatment with an operation to remove the diseased testicle and chemotherapy, Champion recovered and went on to win the 1981 Grand National on Aldaniti. In 1984, John Irvin was nominated for a Golden Bear Award at
1987 Grand National 1987 Grand National The 1987 Grand National (known as the Seagram Grand National for sponsorship reasons) was the 141st running of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 4 April 1987. The race was won in a time of 9 minutes, 19.3 seconds, and by a distance of five lengths by the 28/1 each way chance, Maori Venture who provided jockey Steve Knight with his second Grand National ride. The winner was trained in East Hendred, Oxfordshire by Andy Turnell and ran in the black jacket and scarlet cap of his nonagenarian