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
2011 Grand National finalised in the 1880s that only 28 fences were jumped. The Grand National has the status of being an event of significant national interest within the United Kingdom and thus is listed on the Ofcom Code on Sports and Other Listed and Designated Events. The race therefore must be covered live on free-to-air terrestrial television in the UK. The BBC aired the race on radio for the 80th consecutive year and on television for the 52nd year. Clare Balding presented the BBC's television coverage, supported by Rishi Persad and retired jockey Richard Pitman, which was broadcast on BBC One and,