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
Conditional jockey Conditional jockey A conditional jockey is an apprentice National Hunt racing jockey in Great Britain or Ireland under the age of 26 who has not won more than seventy-five races under rules or had not won that many races within the last six months. A conditional jockey is entitled to a reduction, known as an allowance, in the weight carried by his horse, dependent on the type of race, which varies according to the number of races the jockey has won. A jockey who has ridden fewer than twenty winners can claim an allowance of seven pounds, one who has