Toby McCain-Mitchell banned after Grand National fall on tired Top Of The Bill

Toby McCain-Mitchell’s first Grand National ride ended in a 10-day ban after Aintree stewards ruled he should have pulled up Top Of The Bill before the 10-year-old gelding weakened sharply and came down at the final fence.

The amateur rider, 24, was on the Nigel and Willy Twiston-Davies-trained horse when the pair were still in a prominent position but then lost ground late in the four-and-a-quarter-mile Randox Grand National. Top Of The Bill, owned by Mr Charlie Walker and foaled on 16 March 2016, was assessed by the on-course veterinary team after the fall and walked back to the stables.

Stewards moved immediately, holding an inquiry, interviewing McCain-Mitchell and the veterinary officer, then reviewing the race footage before deciding the ride had gone too far. Their report said the rider should have pulled the gelding up after it had “weakened rapidly,” adding that the horse had tailed off and the fall came when the pressure should already have come off. The sanction was set at 10 days.

That matters beyond one ride and one suspension. McCain-Mitchell was carrying far more than family pride when he lined up in the National. The grandson of Ginger McCain, the trainer who saddled Red Rum to three victories, had said he would keep a lock of Red Rum’s mane inside his gloves for luck. In a race where symbolism is never far from the surface, the family link only sharpened the scrutiny when the horse began to empty late.

The precedent is plain. A similar 10-day ban was handed down after the 2025 Grand National, when Micheal Nolan was punished for continuing on a horse that stewards felt had nothing left. Aintree is drawing a firmer line here: if a horse has clearly spent itself, the rider is expected to stop, even in the sport’s biggest and most pressured stage.

The timing of the ban only deepened the welfare argument around the meeting. Aintree’s festival had already seen two equine fatalities, Gold Dancer on Friday and Get On George on Saturday, intensifying criticism from animal welfare groups and putting every hard decision under a brighter light. I Am Maximus went on to win the 2026 race and become the first horse since Red Rum in 1977 to regain the Grand National crown, but the McCain-Mitchell case was the reminder that the race’s prestige now sits alongside an unforgiving welfare test.