Grand National Legends
The Grand National has produced many legends over the years. Stories of personal triumph like jockey Bob Champion's win in 1981 to legendary horses such as Red Rum and the amazing 100/1 shot Foinavon who stunned the world with a National win in 1967.
The Bob Champion and Aldaniti Story
The National isn't just about horses. The brave jockies play a huge part in any National success and there could be none braver than Bob Champion who in 1981 had the ride of his life on Aldaniti to win the race. In 1979, at thirty-one, Bob discovered he had cancer. He was told he might only have a few months to live and went through months of chemotherapy. What kept him going was the dream of winning the Grand National.
In 1981 his dream came true but Bob's battle with illness was just one part of an amazing story. Aldaniti, the horse on which Bob won the National, had also recovered from three crippling injuries. Together the Jockey and Horse overcame all the odds to pull off one of the most emotional Grand National wins ever. Bob later paid tribute to the horse in his autobiography "Aldaniti is unbelievably tough. I always knew he would gallop until he dropped and I'm convinced that if, during the race, I had pointed him at a twenty-foot brick wall he would have gone straight through it. He was exhausted at the end but however tired he would have kept galloping for ten miles. His guts won the race. Nothing else."
Bob and Aldaniti's story was inspirational to many suffering with cancer and proved that being diagnosed with the disease was not a death sentence that many people feared. In the years after the race Bob and Aldaniti worked to raise money for cancer sufferers and five years later, nearly to the day of the victory, the Bob Champion Cancer Research Unit was opened within the Royal Marsden NHS Trust Hospital in Sutton, Surrey. You can find out more about the Charity and Bob Champions life at www.bobchampion.com.
The Red Rum Story
Red Rum was a racehorse who achieved an unmatched historic treble when he won the National in 73, 74 and 77. Going down in the history books as the best ever National horse.
Red Rum also finished second twice in 75 and 76, the jockey in the 1975 race was blamed for costing the Red Rum another title by holding him back for too long. "Rummy" became a national celebrity, opening supermarkets and annually leading the Grand National parade. England's favorite race horse was actually bred in County Kilkenny, Ireland. Red Rum, died in 1995 at the age of 30 and is buried near the winning post at Aintree. Today a bronze life size statue of the great horse is on display at the Aintree course, home of his greatest victories.
