I Am Maximus has won the 2026 Randox Grand National – becoming the first horse to regain the title since the great Red Rum.
The Willie Mullins-trained 10-year-old carried top weight of 11st 12lb and led home a dominant hand for owner JP McManus, who owned three of the first four over the finish line.
I Am Maxiumus closed in on leader Jordans at the elbow, leaving him in his slipstream as he powered up the run-in to win in emphatic style.
“He will gallop to the end of the world for you,” said winning jockey Paul Townend, who was also in the saddle for the horse’s first Grand National win in 2024 and when he finished runner-up in last year’s race.
“He’s so good; he has such an engine. It’s a privilege to have anything to do with him, what a horse.”
Mullins had nine potential contenders runners in the race – down to eight by the time they lined up following the withdrawal of defending champion Nick Rockett – but Townend only ever had eyes for I Am Maxiumus.
“Obviously Grangeclare West’s preparation was really good in the Bobbyjo, which I won on Nick Rockett in 2025 and who then came here last year and beat me, but this lad wasn’t telling me not to ride him, so I couldn’t not ride him,” he said.
Mullins, who today equalled Ginger McCain and Fred Rimell’s record of saddling four Grand National winners, hinted that we may see him in next year’s race.
“Hopefully I’ll be here, and hopefully I Am Maximus will be here. I think JP is very keen on I Am Maximus for the National, he says he loves the place, he jumps the fences well, we’ve got a great team with Paul, so hopefully we are all here next year,” he said.
“I imagine JP won’t hear of anything else, so there’ll be this little game going on – I’ll stick him in the Gold Cup, JP will take him out and I’ll stick him back in and he’ll take him out, so that’s what was happening this year. And he said, ‘No, we’re going to skip the Gold Cup’, and it proved so right.”
“Anyone would be emotional. Wow. It was a good call from JP – I wanted to go for the Gold Cup and he said, ‘We’re going to stay for Aintree’, as he felt he was well handicapped. Paul just executed it so well, didn’t he?
“It’s very hard [to win off top weight], but maybe the modern day National is changing and we have to look at it differently.
“It’s the first race we all grew up watching and the race we aspire to win when we go into racing. It’s a race you grow up watching and want to be a part of, just to have a runner is a tremendous sensation and for our owners – just to be involved and here at Aintree is great.”
It’s 49 years since Red Rum regained the title he won in 1973 and 1974, a feat that until now, only two others had achieved – both in the Victorian era. The Lamb, who won in 1868 and 1871, and Manifesto, the winner of the 1897 and 1899 editions.
I Am Maximus’s greatness is clear cut. It’s also on his own terms. His quirks are a part of his strength; the team around him work with that mercurial streak and so he is able to shine on the biggest stage of all. There will be ice-cream for fans at his home-coming celebrations, just don’t ask him for a selfie.
“He will eat you without salt. He is a character – don’t stand in his way!” said Mullins, with a smile.
“When he won the Irish National I said to Paul, whatever you do don’t come off the inside, and the horse refused to race on the inside. After two miles Paul said, sod this and went to the outside. The minute the horse went to the outside he had his ears pricked and he liked it. But he’s by Authorized, and horses by Authorized have that little bit of a quirk in them. You could call it immaturity, whatever, but they’re very good – but they have that quirk. You just don’t want to annoy him – you want to get on his right side.”
‘He ran a blinder’
Fellow McManus horse Iroko, ridden by Jonjo O’Neill Jr, finished second for local trainers Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriro, who are also eyeing a return for next year’s race with their star.
“The build-up to this has been so intense, I think being local… I burst in tears when he got to the line, I felt like a pressure cooker being released,” said Greenall.
Guerriro added: “I’m very proud of him, he’s run a blinder. He finished fourth last year when I Am Maximus was second and he’s probably been beaten a similar distance today.
“We’ll come back and win it next year. He’s got even more experience now and probably his Cheltenham prep wasn’t the best. I Am Maximus will be another year older and we are only eight. It wasn’t to be today, but we’ll win it one day.”
Joseph O’Brien-trained Jordans was third, piloted by Ben Jones. Mr McManus also scooped fourth place with Johnnywho, ridden by Richie McLernon and trained by Jonjo O’Neill Sr.
Randox Grand National 2026 result: full finishing order
Position, horse, jockey, trainer
1 I Am Maximus, Paul Townend, Willie Mullins
2 Iroko, Jonjo O’Neill Jr, Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero
3 Jordans, Ben Jones, Joseph O’Brien
4 Johnnywho, Richie McLernon, Jonjo and A.J. O’Neill
5 High Class Hero, James Bowen, Willie Mullins
6 Favori De Champdou, Danny Gilligan, Gordon Elliott
7 Final Orders, Conor Stone-Walsh, Gavin Cromwell
8 Champ Kiely, Danny Mullins, Willie Mullins
9 Three Card Brag, Jordan Gainford, Gordon Elliott
10 Monty’s Star, Darragh O’Keeffe, Henry de Bromhead
11 Answer To Kayf, John Shinnick, Terence O’Brien
12 Gorgeous Tom, Sean Flanagan, Henry de Bromhead
14 Haiti Couleurs, Sean Bowen, Rebecca Curtis
15 Twig, Beau Morgan, Ben Pauling
16 Firefox, Keith Donoghue, Gordon Elliott
Non-finishers
Lecky Watson (pulled up 29th fence), Spanish Harlem (pulled up before 27th fence), The Real Whacker (pulled up before 13th fence), Amirite (pulled up before 29th fence), Banbridge (unseated rider 15th fence), Beauport (unseated rider 19th fence), Captain Cody (unseated rider 27th fence), Grangeclare West (unseated rider first fence), Jagwar (unseated rider 19th fence), Oscars Brother (unseated rider 15th fence), Perceval Legallois (unseated rider 27th fence), Gerri Colombe (fell seventh fence), Marble Sands (fell 18th fence), Mr Vango (fell sixth fence), Panic Attack (fell third fence), Quai De Bourbon (fell second fence), Stellar Story (fell 19th fence), Top Of The Bill (fell 30th fence).
Winning time: 9 minutes 9.68 seconds
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