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
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