Aldaniti: The Story of a Champion

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The late BBC commentator Peter O’Sullevan, as ever, described the conclusion of Aldaniti and Champion’s victory in perfect style. His skill in the saddle won him plenty of races, as well as respect. He also proved skilful with the ladies too. His tempestuous love affairs were well-known and sometimes amusing to those around him. But I was thinking I have got to have a go. And then the old horse broke down two-thirds, three-quarters through the treatment. Aldaniti with Bob Champion in the saddle jumping the last fence on the way to victory in the Grand National at Aintree Racecourse on April 4 1981 verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{

At the Elbow I felt a horse come to my quarters but didn’t look. You sense a horse is there. But I went and won two or three lengths. He broke down and had injuries for about four times in his life. He spent more time in his box than he did on the racecourse.

Champion knew the agreed tactics had been abandoned at that point and was already arming himself with examples of successful front-running rides to justify his departure from the game plan to Gifford. Since retiring from racing, Bob’s career has encompassed everything from training – “I had a winner over the National fences which meant an awful lot to me” – to being a roving ambassador for the British Racing School, and various TV show appearances. But barely a month goes by when he isn’t out supporting the Trust. Having been made England captain at 24, Botham struggled to live up to expectations. Under his leadership, the national team had suffered heavy defeats in successive series against the West Indies. They’d failed to win any of the 12 Tests during his time as captain, while his personal form seemed to crumble too.

Champion details the treatment he had saying: “The treatment was barbaric those days. They put bleomycin, vinblastine in plating, every day for a week and then a couple of days of APA again. Three days off, hit me again with it, then four days off, hit me for a week again. Thankfully it worked, but getting fit was the hard bit, because I’d lost all my muscle. Everything about me, I weighed down to about nine stone.John Francome: “Bob could walk into the weighing room, have a cup of tea and a sandwich and then he’d assure you he hadn’t eaten for two days. He loved his food and genuinely would think that he hadn’t eaten. But he’s just the nicest person.” On April 4 1981 Aldaniti and Champion started the National as the 10-1 second favourite behind 8-1 shot Spartan Missile – who had previously won the Foxhunters’ Chase, run over the big Aintree fences twice. You do all the formalities, the press, TV all those interviews and basically you get on with the job. But I had the best run down the Canal Turn that anybody could have had in the race, ever, and everything went so smoothly.

On his return he made a promising start over fences, with three wins and a third in the 1977 Hennessy Cognac Gold Cup, and Champion made the claim that one day Aldaniti would win the Grand National. Sadly however he was found to be lame again, and was out of action for a further seven months. The Grand National is a race that moves the public like no other, with many of the sport's best-known characters participants over the famous fences and the wide-open nature of the race appealing to seasoned punters and novice spectators alike. He stubbornly insisted that there was a mistake in the diagnosis. The diagnosis wasn’t wrong. Doctors gave Champion a maximum of eight months to live, with only a 40 percent chance of survival. Eventually when I was two out, I thought 'I've got to keep hold of his head' because his legs were like glass and keeping him sound was the most important thing.Bob Champion (left) and John Hurt (right) pictured in London in February 1984. John Hurt played the part of Bob Champion in the 1984 film "Champions" Picture by Peter Stone/Daily Mirror On cancer awareness, Champion said: “The most important thing is, if you think there’s something wrong, go and see a doctor, and it hasn’t been very good through the pandemic. What a story that would be with Tom Scudamore, because Tom's grandfather rode the winner of the National - Michael Scudamore," he said. On the casting of Hurt, Champion said: “What a professional, every film he’d been in. Sadly, he is not with us anymore. But he was a fantastic man.

People have been frightened in a way and go and sit in the doctors, and the surgeries weren’t really open. That’s been a shame actually because I feel in the next two years, there’s going to be a lot more people having cancer because they miss the early parts of it. England went on to win the fourth and fifth Tests to retain the Ashes, with the series still often referred to as ‘Botham’s Ashes.’ Cast your vote John Francome also highights that “Bob was a very good rider. He was good with anything… you never saw him pull one in the mouth, and was always in a good position landing.”The film came about after Champion wrote a book with racing journalist and broadcaster Jonathan Powell. Doctors advised that he may have only around eight months to live if he did not immediately begin a powerful course of treatment. Initially, Bob did not think much of the 30% chance of survival they gave him.