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
1953 Grand National 1953 Grand National The 1953 Grand National was the 107th renewal of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 28 March 1953. The race was won by eight-year-old Early Mist at odds of 20/1. Early Mist was the first of trainer Vincent O'Brien's three consecutive Grand National victories, and his jockey, Bryan Marshall, would also go on to win a second successive National the following year on Royal Tan. Of the 31 that started, 5 finished. Mont Tremblant was 2nd, Irish Lizard was 3rd, Overshadow finished 4th and Senlac Hill was last