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
1952 Grand National Forty-seven horses ran, and all but one returned safely to the stables. Skouras had to be euthanised after incurred a cervical fracture falling at Becher's Brook. 1952 Grand National The 1952 Grand National was the 106th renewal of the Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 5 April 1952. The race went off ten minutes late, after the field breached the starting tape, prompting a false start. It was won by Teal, a 100/7 shot ridden by jockey Arthur Thompson and trained by Neville Crump. Thompson and Crump were victorious in the steeplechase