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
George Stevens (jockey) George Stevens (jockey) George Stevens (12 June 1833, Cheltenham – 2 June 1871, Cleeve Hill) was an English jockey, famous for having the most wins in the Grand National. Stevens began his riding career at the age of 16 or 17. He rode Hardwick to victory in the Grand Annual steeple chase at Wolverhampton in 1851. From the beginning of 1848 to the end of 1870 he won 76 races. He rode 5 Grand National winners: Freetrader, 1856; Emblem 1863; Emblematic, 1864; The Colonel, 1869, 1870. He died on 2 June 1871 after suffering a skull fracture the previous day;