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
Graham Lee (jockey) Bill Haigh – Here, recovering from his severe injury problems, Lee rose to the top ten in the jockey championship. Malcolm Jefferson – A successful stint for Lee which secured him the lucrative position with Howard Johnson, and fifth place in the jockey championship. In 2010, Lee began riding for Jefferson again. J Howard Johnson – With this stable, Lee secured the top jockey award at Cheltenham and a Scottish Grand National win. He finished third in the jockey championship, behind Tony McCoy and Richard Johnson. He also won the Grand National during this period, but this was for Ginger