I Am Maximus regains his crown

THE 2026 Grand National took place at Aintree on Saturday April 11 and it was a record breaking—or at least equalling—day for the winning horse and connections.

I Am Maximus (above), sent off as 9/2 favourite after a late flurry of bets—including one revealed on live tv by a bookmaker as £100,000 staked at 8/1—became the first horse since the legendary Red Rum 50 years ago to regain his Grand National title.

Willie Mullins equalled the record number of winners by a trainer at four and JP McManus took the prize as the race’s winning most owner, also at four victories. Mullins also became the first trainer since the late, great Vincent O’Brien in the 1950s to win the race in three successive years, following first places for I Am Maximus in 2024 and Nick Rocket, ridden by his son Patrick, in 2025.

I Am Maximus—ridden by Irish Champion Jockey Paul Townend—was prominent in the early stages, taken up the inside for most of the way until a couple of minor jumping errors saw him slip back into mid-division. Jordans (28/1) for Joseph O’Brien and JJ Slevin was running a mighty race up front and looked to have slipped the field after the second last fence, bounding clear by around eight lengths before ultimately running out of steam to finish a gallant third.

‘Max’ at the time of jumping the last was starting to pass other horses and had his sights firmly set on the leader as they then approached the elbow and home straight. Under a power-packed drive from Townend he came flashing past to win in a cosier fashion than the two and a half length margin suggested.

Incredibly I Am Maximus has now been around the Grand National course three times, has ran for more than 13 miles and jumped 90 fences in total. His record in those three attempts reads first-second- first. An achievement made even more remarkable when you consider he has carried the top weight of 11st 12lbs in the latter two of those.

I Am Maximus has already been placed at the head of the market for the 2027 Grand National at 12/1. If he lines up he will bid to equal another of Red Rum’s records, that of the only horse to win the race three times.

McManus was asked about this after and said: “We have a bit to do to catch up with Red Rum, but we’ll definitely try. Red Rum was the figurehead of the National with Ginger (McCain) and it’s nice to be even mentioned in the same breath as him.”

The final major festival of the National Hunt season takes place at Punchestown from April 28 to May 2 and promises to be an exciting affair with the race for the Irish Trainers Championship a fair bit closer than previous years.

At the time of writing Gordon Elliott leads Mullins by around €120,000. Both will have plenty runners at the festival so that gap is sure to fluctuate in both directions over the five days. Twelve Grade Ones and a plethora of valuable supporting races should provide many plots and sub-plots prior to the finale of the season.