I Am Maximus became a legendary Aintree gladiator after regaining the Grand National crown on Saturday.
The Willie Mullins-trained star became the first horse since the legendary Red Rum to regain the National and despite topweight he justified massive popular market support that saw him start a 9-2 favourite to repeat his 2024 triumph.
Paul Townend became the first jockey to complete National Hunt racing’s unofficial “Grand Slam” in a single season having last month won all three major prizes at the Cheltenham Festival, the Champion Hurdle, the Champion Chase and Gold Cup.
Mullins pulled off the same “Slam” that Henry De Bromhead managed in 2021 and joined the legendary pair Fred Rimmel and Red Rum’s trainer Ginger McCain with a record-equalling fourth Grand National victory overall.
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First successful with Hedgehunter in 2005, Mullins dominated last year’s race with I Am Maximus finishing a gallant runner-up to his stable companion Nick Rockett. The sport’s dominant figure emulated Vincent O’Brien who completed a National hat-trick between 1953 and 1955.
It was also a fourth success for JP McManus, who is now the most successful owner in Grand National history. He finished runner-up with Iroko while another of his six runners, Johnnywho, was fourth.
Joseph O’Brien’s Jordans was third, just coming up short after a startlingly early dash for home under English jockey Ben Jones that briefly looked like paying off. However, he faltered on the long run from the last with his worst nightmare coming from behind as I Am Maximus remorselessly closed in. He led after the Elbow to crown his reputation as a modern Aintree icon.
Tiger Roll twice won in 2018 and 2019. But for I Am Maximus to bounce back from finishing second a year previously, and to manage it under a monster weight of 11.12, inevitably earned comparisons to the ultimate Liverpool legend Red Rum.
“Rummy” won back-to-back in 1973 and 1974 before being runner-up the following two years. His seismic third victory came in 1977. Red Rum was 12 on that occasion. Half a century later in 2027, I Am Maximus will be 11. But he can’t have any more weight, and his Aintree experience is currently incomparable. He is already 8-1 to pull off a hat-trick.
I Am Maximus is just the fourth horse to regain the National. The Lamb (1868 & 1871) and Manifesto (1897 & 1899) also managed the feat. I Am Maximus is the ninth to win twice and delivered a 33rd Grand National success for horses trained in Ireland.
“Hopefully he’ll be here next year. JP is very keen on the National for I Am Maximus, he says he loves the place and jumps the fences so well,” Mullins said. “He’s a great team with Paul, the two of them, so hopefully we’re all here next year.”
“He’s so good and has got such an engine. He’d gallop to the end of the world for you, and I’m privileged to have anything to do with him. What a clever horse,” beamed Townend whose decision to remain loyal to his old ally paid off in style.
In contrast, Patrick Mullins, who won on Nick Rockett last year, was unseated from Grangeclare West at the very first fence. He was the first casualty of an unusually attritional National in the modern context.
Among those that exited, the well-backed mare Panic Attack fell at the third while Mr Vango went at Bechers. Gerri Colombe unseated at Foinavon while another famous obstacle, The Chair, claimed Oscars Brother and Banbridge.
It contributed to a notably dramatic Grand National that underlined how significant a challenge the race still can be despite modifications to the fences in recent years. There were 16 finishers and no reports of any fatalities in the race.
“I’d have been going down the Gold Cup route with him, but he [McManus] said no, he wanted to stay at Aintree with him, and he felt he was nicely handicapped. Paul just executed it so well, didn’t he,” Mullins said.
“Yes, it’s hard to win off topweight but maybe the modern-day National is changing and we need to look at it differently. This race is huge – it’s the first race any of us watch on television. It’s the one we aspire to win when we go into racing. It’s extraordinary. I could never dream that we could do things like this,” he added.
Success in the previous two National’s propelled Mullins to the British trainer’s championship but he ruled out a hat-trick attempt. The Irishman conceded Dan Skelton is too far clear in a contest decided by prize money. The Englishman was out of luck in the big race but otherwise enjoyed a four-timer on the Aintree undercard.
The National put a perfect seal on a rollercoaster 24 hours of emotions for Townend who on Friday won a Grade One race on Gold Dancer only for the horse to be pulled up shortly after the winning post. He was subsequently euthanised having suffered a broken back.
“I saw the one that went in front [Jordans] but I wasn’t going to be the one chasing him, I had enough going OK in front of me and I was able to get a lead to the elbow,” explained Ireland’s champion jockey. “To come back here a second time was hard, but to come back and do it a third time is surreal.”
Townend added: “I can’t do the feeling justice to be honest. How lucky I am to be riding these horses. It’s not lost on me. I grew up with jockeys as my superheroes to me. I can’t believe I’m part of that circle now.”
Joseph O’Brien, earlier successful in the Liverpool Hurdle with Home By The Lee, was entitled to wonder “what-might-have-been” with Jordans who ran a remarkable race considering he’d blundered early in the contest.
“I was very worried that he got to the front as easy as he did when he did, because it was a long way from home,” O’Brien admitted. “I was very proud of his run. He nearly got brought down so he lost his position. It’s frustrating to get so close, but I’m proud of his run.”
Like Iroko’s connections the temptation already is to ponder what might occur a year from now. But only rare talents keep coming back to the National. And I Am Maximus has proved himself an exceptional one in not only winning twice but to have his own connections already thinking about 2027.
“We have a bit to do to catch up with Red Rum, but we’ll definitely try,” McManus said. “Red Rum was the figurehead of the National and it’s nice to be mentioned in the same breath as him.”
