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
1926 Grand National 1926 Grand National The 1926 Grand National was the 85th renewal of the world-famous Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 26 March 1926. The steeplechase was won by Jack Horner, a 25/1 bet ridden by jockey Billy Watkinson and trained by Harvey Leader for American owner Charles Schwartz, who had paid 5,000 guineas for him a week beforehand. Schwartz won £5,000 for the victory. Harvey Leader was a brother of Ted Leader and son of Tom Leader. Old Tay Bridge finished in second place for the second successive year, Bright's Boy was