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1983 Sun Grand National Race Card


If you are interested in buying this 1983 Grand National race card please email me on info@fansedge.co.uk the price is £15 plus £1.50 p&p

The video shows the race card for The Sun Grand National at Aintree run on Saturday April 9th 1983. The race was won by Corbiere trained by Mrs J Pitman and ridden by Ben de Haan.

Mrs Pitman was the first woman to train the winner of the Grand National.

The front cover of the card shows Rubstic ridden by Maurice Barnes on the left and Zongalero ridden by Bob Davies jumping the last in the 1979 race.

How I remember the 1983 Grand National
This was the first Grand National that I attended. I was 14 years old.

I remember walking around the track before racing to have a close up look at the fences. There were many other people doing likewise. The fences were very large and I rember being quite scared by the ditch in front of the 3rd fence. It was huge.

In the good old days

Bechers Brook was particularly daunting as it had a fair drop on the landing side. This was in the days when the ditch was still open, it’s filled in now.

The Foinavon fence I thought looked fairly small and quite jumpable. My confidence started to come back. I began to think “Yeah – I’ll be jumping these someday!”

The Canal Turn looked not too big on approach but with it’s sharp left-handed turn on to the next fence it certainly looked tricky.

I rember Valentine’s Brook seemed a big fence although it didn’t have the same drop to it as Bechers.

What I remember of The Chair is that it looked narrow. It hadn’t got the same width to it as the fences around the rest of the course. The ditch in front of it was big (although it was the ditch at the third that really made the hairs stand up on the back of my neck).

The Chair is a big fence but when you go round to the landing side one starts thinking what is all the fuss about as it looks nowhere near as big.

When I’d been round the course I made my way to the paddock area as before racing started the King of Aintree himself Red Rum
was making a visit to the Grand National Sales Appeal kiosk on the Parade Ring Lawn. This was in addition to his customary pre Grand National Parade in front of the Grandstand that he used to do.

There were a lot of people gathered around Rummy but I got through in the end and I actually put my hand on his shoulder. I remember thinking to myself “Wow this is Red Rum – he’s not very big!”

Not far away from Red Rum there was a little old man and one of the people that I was with said “That’s Tim Hamey – go and get his autograph.” At the time I didn’t even know who Tim Hamey was but in his day he had been one of the top jockeys in the country and had won the 1932 Grand National on Forbra. He had also won the 1926 Cheltenham Gold Cup on Koko.

As for the racing that started at 2.00 with the Park Hampers Steeplechase (A Limited Handicap) over two miles on the Mildmay Course. There were some real speedsters in this notably Badsworth Boy, News King and Artifice.

I remember Jack Berry the former flat trainer had a grey horse in it called Snowtown Boy. I’d only just been to Berry’s open day at his Cockerham stables and I’d seen the horse schooling there so I fancied him, after all he had won his previous two races.

Snowtown Boy ran well enough and I think he was 4th or 5th but some of the other horses were a different class. The race was won by Artifice ridden by Peter Scudamore and trained by John Thorne.

The second race was The Sun Templegate Hurdle over two miles five and a half furlongs which had six runners but at that time they were six of the very best. They were the 1983 Champion Hurdle 123, Gaye Brief, Boreen Prince and For Auction plus Dawn Run, Broadsword and A Kinsman.

Once again it was Gaye Brief who showed them the way home with Dawn Run in second, For Auction in third and Broadsword fourth.

Next came the National. There were some good old favourites in the field such as Grittar, Venture To Cognac, Spartan Missile, Royal Mail, Bonum Omen etc.

As I wrote earlier it was Corbiere who won by three quarters of a length from Greasepaint with Yer Man twenty lengths away in third.

The fourth race of the day was the M.F.I Conditional Jockeys Steeple Chase over three miles and one furlong. This chase was run on the Mildmay Course.

Only five went to post but they were some good horses.

The race was won by Approaching ridden by Paul Nicholls (these days better known as the Champion National Hunt Trainer of Kauto Star and Denman fame). Second home was Why Forget trained by WA Stephenson, whilst the third was Gay Spartan trained by Michael Dickinson.

Approaching had won the 1978 Hennessy Gold Cup whilst Gay Spartan won the 1978 King George VI Chase. Even the horse that finished fifth Henry Kissinger had won the 1981 Mackeson Gold Cup. Not bad old gee gees for a lads race!

However, moving on, it was the final race on the card the Fosters Lager Novices Hurdle which held a future twist of fate for me. One of the runners was called Crowecopper and it was on this horse just over four years later at Uttoxeter in an Amateur Riders Handicap Chase on Midlands Grand National day that I rode my first winner. In fact I won three races on Crowecopper, second time was at Windsor and then the third time at Bangor when he gave me my first winner as a professional.

It was also on Crowecopper that a friend of mine, the former Midlands based National Hunt Jockey Roy “RF” Davies had ridden his last winner in a Wolverhampton Novices Hurdle.

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