1981 Grand National In second place was the 8/1 favourite, Spartan Missile, ridden by 54-year-old amateur jockey and grandfather John Thorne. 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. 1981 Grand National The 1981 Grand National 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
1938 Grand National 1938 Grand National The 1938 Grand National was the 97th renewal of the world-famous Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 25 March 1938. The steeplechase was won narrowly by American thoroughbred Battleship, a 40/1 shot ridden by 17-year-old jockey Bruce Hobbs and trained by Reg Hobbs, for owner Marion duPont Scott. Royal Danieli finished in second place, with Workman third and last year's second-placed Cooleen was fourth. Workman won the National the following year and Cooleen also finished fourth in 1939. Battleship is the only horse to have won both the Grand