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
2012 Grand National chase, and the first since 1961. Joint-favourite Seabass finished third, which resulted in Katie Walsh, in her first outing in the race, scoring the best result ever for a female jockey in the Grand National. Synchronised, the 2012 Cheltenham Gold Cup winner and an early favourite for the National, and According to Pete both were euthanised after suffering leg fractures during the race. One fence was omitted on the second circuit as medics treated jockey Noel Fehily, who broke a leg in a fall on the first circuit. The race was televised live on the BBC for the last time,