First past the post was Esha Ness trained by Jenny Pitman and her tears of

First past the post was Esha Ness, trained by Jenny Pitman, and her tears of frustration won the hearts of the nation in the face of what looked like upper-class bungling on a "Light Brigade" scale.Two years later, Pitman's redemption was more than completed by the victory of the 12-year-old Royal Athlete, a fragile horse that she had somehow managed to coax back to fitness and full-confidence in a memorable feat of training. No wonder Pitman was now dubbed by the tabloids "The Queen of Aintree". She has, as a matter of record, also won the Irish, Welsh and Scottish Grand Nationals with her horses, a feat that marks her down as one of the greatest racehorse trainers ever.Two obvious post-war themes seem self-evident in Jenny Pitman's rise to such prominence - the empowerment of women, and the breaking down of class barriers. She had, on her own admission, not much of an education, and those who know her say that she is suspicious of people who come across as, "smart alecs".

Similarly entrenched male-attitudes are often given short-shrift. One trainer who knows her well says that "she's not one for being impressed by titles or people with initials after their name; she just wants to deal with people who'll tell her the truth. At the centre, she's rock hard, but she's a rock in a velvet glove."One such person has been her training assistant David Stait, whom she married two years ago after a 20-year relationship. Her decision to retire, announced with typically emotional timing on the first day of last month's Cheltenham Festival, may well be the result of a desire to enjoy the stability and fulfilment of marriage that was denied to her first time around. Pitman is also in remission from the thyroid cancer she announced last year at her award of the OBE at Buckingham Palace.Even at a youthful 52, now may well be a good time to go. She has nothing to prove to the racing fraternity and has earned a genuine admiration, not just from those who bet, but also from a wider public for whom her epic struggle has its own resonance.

Even Richard, her first husband, has graciously suggested that a victory today for her horse, Nahthen Lad, "would lift the roof off Aintree".Touchingly, at Cheltenham, she signed off her retirement speech with an effective homily that disarmed those who felt she had upstaged the event. "I am not rich in terms of money, but in terms of all the memories I've had from racing. I have feelings that the richest person in the world couldn't buy." Win or lose today, there will be an inevitable torrent of tears on to Des Lynam's shoulder as the "Queen of Aintree" makes her formal abdication. She has already assigned her stables to her son Mark, a highly promising trainer in his own right, but perhaps the public at Aintree will not let her go so easily.For here is a race that is not, unlike The Gold Cup or The Derby, an elite brethren of horses fighting for superiority. The Grand National is a handicap, in which all the runners, no matter what their breeding or training, have a theoretical chance of success. The public understands and exalts the inherent democracy of such an enterprise, rejoicing in the populist sentiment and lasting fame it generates. In Jenny Pitman's life and career achievements, they undoubtedly see the same struggle enshrined in human terms.Life StoryOrigins: Born 11 June 1946 as Jennifer Susan Harvey, one of seven children of a farming family in Hoby, Leicestershire.Education: Left local school at 15 to become a stable-lass.Vital statistics: Married jockey, later commentator, Richard Pitman, in 1965 Separated, 1975 Two children, Mark and Paul.

Married David Stait, assistant trainer, 1997Career: Became a national hunt trainer in 1975, at Weathercock House Stables, Lambourn.Grand National successes: Corbiere (1983), Royal Athlete (1995). This year, her last, running Nahthen Lad (pictured).Other notable winners: Cheltenham Gold Cup: Borough Hill Lad (1984); Garrison Savannah (1991). Welsh National: Corbiere (1983); Borough Hill Lad (1983); Stearsby (1986) Scottish National: Willsford (1995). Irish National: Mudahim (1997)She says: "Horses are more generous than humans, they give everything.". ARGUABLY THE least enduring aspect of the so-called Profumo Affair was that it helped nail the coffin lid on 13 years of Conservative government.