I Am Maximus dominated headlines after his second Aintree Grand National victory on Saturday, and the scale of his success was underlined by the name of the horse mentioned more than any of his rivals in those same headings.
Red Rum has been dead for 30 years. The only horse ever to win the National three times, who basically saved it as a sporting institution, and who continues to be the most famous racehorse of all. I Am Maximus, winner in 2024 and runner up last year, was the first since Red Rum to regain the National crown. Comparative headlines wrote themselves.
‘Rummy’ was racing’s ultimate feel-good story. The little horse that loved people, trained on the beach at Southport by a charismatic second-hand car dealer, Ginger McCain, was a tale that captivated popular culture in the 1970s.
But just as the fearsome challenge of the National was vastly different then to the modern Aintree, so is the story surrounding I Am Maximus.
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He represents racing royalty. JP McManus is the most powerful owner in the sport. He’s now the most successful owner in National history with four wins. Willie Mullins has transformed National Hunt racing. He emulated Vincent O’Brien in the 1950s with a third Grand National in a row at the weekend. He’s just the fourth trainer to win it a record-equalling four titles in all.
It was a second for Ireland’s champion jockey, and supreme big-race rider, Paul Townend. The quiet but deadly 35-year-old from Cork is at his peak. No other jockey has ever completed jump racing’s unofficial ‘Grand Slam’ of the Champion Hurdle, Champion Chase, Gold Cup and Grand National in a single season.
As for I Am Maximus himself, arguments about the different challenge he faces over the modern Aintree fences compared to Red Rum back in the day can’t shake his status as a Grand National icon. He’s the ninth to win it more than once, just the fourth in all to regain it; and there’s no argument at all about his quality.
His feat in defying topweight – despite which he was backed to 9/2 favourite – means the respected Timeform organisation make him their highest-rated Grand National winner. Only Crisp, the horse that heroically failed under a monster weight to repel Red Rum in 1973, is rated higher. Rummy is ranked 5lbs lower than I Am Maximus by Timeform, with Tiger Roll 6lbs lower.
This is landmark stuff. But it’s already only 8/1 for I Am Maximus returning to Aintree for a fourth time in 2027 and pulling off his own hat-trick.
If the backstory isn’t as captivating as Red Rum’s, the newest National hero is still distinctive. The legend was a famously tractable creature, happily willing to deal with his adoring public. If he metaphorically wore a white hat, there’s no doubt I A Maximus is more of a black hat kind of guy.
Mullins has an established tradition of parading big race winners back in Leighlinbridge, Co Carlow. Emergency personnel might need to be on hand for such an occasion based on the 2024 turnout.
“You know our parade that we have after big winners like the Grand National and the Gold Cup at our local pub? Normally the horses come back into the car-park and we have an ice-cream van for the kids and people want their photograph taken with the horse.
“Galopin De Champ was there for about an hour-and-a-half and I think Lossiemouth was there for two hours probably.
“But I Am Maximus – he ate about three babies and kicked about four pensioners! We had to load him up and bring him home after five minutes. That’s I Am Maximus. He will eat you without salt. He is a character – don’t stand in his way!” Mullins said on Saturday.
In any other yard, I Am Maximus’ class would have him contesting the Cheltenham Gold Cup. The depth of resources available to Mullins, and McManus, means he instead brings a combination of quality and grit to Aintree’s singular challenge. It’s a gladiatorial blend that has its own appeal.
“He’s a quirky devil, you know,” said Townend on Saturday. “But he came here the first year and he attacked the first. He’s a brave horse behind it all.”
Hard not to warm to that.
