The Grand National steeplechase, held every year at Aintree near Liverpool, has attracted as much controversy as it has punters almost throughout its history. Although efforts have been made to modify the course in recent years, back in the 1980s the race had changed little since its inception. The course itself only narrowly escaped being sold off for a housing development, as the industry rallied to preserve the event, an important shop window for racing with many once-a-year punters trusting to luck to pick the winner.
Until this year trainer Jenny Pitman was best known as being the ex-wife of jockey Richard, whose horse Crisp was narrowly beaten by Red Rum ten years earlier, for the first of three National victories. The couple had split under somewhat acrimonious circumstances in the intervening years, and while Richard had gone on to commentate for the BBC, his ex-wife had become a successful trainer. Her horse Corbiere was considered a legitimate contender, however the favourite was the previous year's winner Grittar. This year, Grittar was partnered by a professional jockey after Dick Saunders, the 48-year old amateur who rode him to victory 12 months previously, had retired from the saddle.
But it was Corbiere, ridden by jockey Ben de Haan, who took the spoils, prominent all through the race he held off the Irish challenger Greasepaint in a thrilling finish, to take the race by three-quarters of a length. The victory was a popular one, with Mrs Pitman becoming the first woman to train a winner, that provided the 'story' so often associated with National winners. Corbiere was well-suited to the course and returned for several more attempts, only failing to complete the course once in 1986. He finished third in the next two Nationals, while Greasepaint, the horse he narrowly edged out, managed to finish in front of Corbiere the next year. Unfortunately, Hallo Dandy finished in front of both of them and Greasepaint achieved an unenviable feat of back-to-back runners-up placings.
As for Mrs Pitman, she went on to become a popular figure with TV viewers, as her interviews with BBC presenter Desmond Lynam were a highlight of the day's TV coverage. She went close again in the 1991 race with Garrison Savannah, that year's Cheltenham Gold Cup winner ridden by her son Mark, who lost out in the run-in to Seagram in a finish that echoed the Crisp/Red Rum finish years before. She also trained Esha Ness, who 'won' the void race of 1993, before finally notching up another National win with Royal Athlete in 1995. She retired in 1999 and handed the trainer's licence to her son Mark.
Below is a link to the BBC footage of the 1983 Grand National:
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