Aldaniti the gelding was assigned a weight of 153 pounds and started the 10/1 second favourite behind Spartan Missile a dual winner of the Fox Hunters' Chase. Aldaniti took the lead at the eleventh fence and maintained his advantage for the rest of the race, fighting off a challenge from Spartan Missile on the run-in to win by four lengths. On the following day more than 3,000 people turned out to welcome the horse back to his stable at Findon. Aldaniti also ran in the 1982 Grand National with Bob Champion, but fell at the first fence. Aldaniti was retired from
Grand National was passed fit to ride in the Grand National. He rode Aldaniti, a horse deprived in its youth and which had only recently recovered from chronic leg problems. Despite a poor start, the pair went on to win four-and-a-half lengths ahead of the much-fancied Spartan Missile, ridden by amateur jockey and 54-year-old grandfather John Thorne. Champion and Aldaniti were instantly propelled to celebrity status, and within two years, their story had been re-created in the film "Champions", starring John Hurt. From 1984 to 1991, Seagram sponsored the Grand National. The Canadian distiller provided a solid foundation on which the race's