I Am Maximus wins Grand National again, first since Red Rum

I Am Maximus carried top weight, found another gear late, and became the first horse since Red Rum to win the Grand National twice. At Aintree, the 10-year-old gelding put a brutal renewal to bed under Paul Townend and gave Willie Mullins another piece of history in a race that left most of the field behind.

The winning move came in the closing stages, after Townend had kept I Am Maximus clear of the worst of the trouble and asked for the response at the right moment. From there, the grey-green tide of J.P. McManus colors kept rolling. Iroko finished second, Jordans was third and Johnnywho took fourth, giving McManus three of the first four places and underlining just how much control his runners had over the outcome.

The Grand National did what the Grand National always threatens to do: shred the field. Only 16 of the 34 starters completed the four-mile-plus test, a number that tells the story as plainly as the finishing order. Stamina, jumping economy and positioning mattered more than reputation, and I Am Maximus had all three when it counted most. He had been sent off among the market principals at 9-2, but even money in the betting never buys you the kind of composure this race demands.

For Mullins, the victory was a landmark beyond the winner’s enclosure. He became the first trainer since Vincent O’Brien to win three straight Grand Nationals, matching a benchmark set in the 1950s when O’Brien won with Early Mist in 1953, Royal Tan in 1954 and Quare Times in 1955. That kind of sequence does not happen by accident in a race built to punish mistakes and expose weak spots.

McManus, meanwhile, moved to four Grand National wins and stands alone as the race’s most successful owner. His long association with top-level jumps racing has already produced plenty of big days, but this one had extra weight because I Am Maximus had to carry 11st 12lb and still finish with authority. Red Rum’s shadow still hangs over Aintree, and now I Am Maximus has stepped into the same narrow lane of history as the last horse to regain the crown.