How a police tip-off and midnight dash kept Bob Champion's Aldaniti dream alive

Bob Champion has revealed that his miracle victory on Aldaniti in the 1981 Grand National would never have happened but for the intervention of a kindly policeman a few days before the race.

Champion was speaking to the Racing Post for a major interview in Sunday's newspaper, which marks the 40th anniversary of the day he won the great race on Aldaniti less than two years after being given a 30 per cent chance of survival when diagnosed with cancer.

Aldaniti, who had been close to death himself after breaking down badly earlier in his career, had been a strong fancy for the race since winning at Ascot in February, but his participation nearly became impossible in dramatic circumstances.

"The horse was going to go up on Friday," said Champion, "but Josh [Gifford, trainer] got a phone call at midnight on the Wednesday from the chief of police saying he'd have to get him out of Sussex by five the next morning because there had been a foot and mouth outbreak and the county was going to be closed down.

"I think he must have had a few quid on, to have rung that late, but if we hadn't got out when we did, he'd never have run. Josh rang 'Snowy' Davis, the travelling head lad, and Pete Double, who looked after the horse, and they got him in the box and off to Liverpool."

Since his victory, Champion has devoted himself to raising money for his charity, the Bob Champion Cancer Trust, and he is marking the 40th anniversary of Aldaniti's win with a charity walk which starts the day after next weekend's Grand National.

Starting at Aintree, Champion will walk 191 miles, marking the 191 days between his diagnosis in July 1979 and getting the all-clear in January 1980. Rather than a linear route, it will cover 40 stops all connected to his life and marking each year since Aldaniti's victory, finishing at Findon, where the horse was trained.

Members of the public can apply to get sponsored to join Champion at bobchampion.org.uk. Champion can also be supported here: justgiving.com/fundraising/bob-champion2.

Read more from Bob Champion in The Big Read, available online for Members' Club Ultimate subscribers from 6pm on Saturday or in Sunday's Racing Post newspaper. Join Members' Club here.