Update: I am Maximus Grand National delight for JP McManus with matching Red Rum the new dream
SUPERSTAR Paul Townend and I Am Maximus cross the finish line to take victory in the Randox Grand National at Aintree. Pic: Michael Steele/Getty Images
As a dual Randox Grand National hero, I Am Maximus is assured of his place in Aintree history – and for those closest to him the possibility of equalling Red Rum with three Nationals is now firmly in sight.
The 10-year-old looked to have the potential of becoming a Liverpool great when first winning the world’s most famous steeplechase in 2024 – and while he found stablemate Nick Rockett too strong 12 months ago, he returned as the 9-2 favourite to become the first horse since Ginger McCain’s superstar to regain the National crown.
With incidents aplenty taking place around him, I Am Maximus was not always foot-perfect in the hands of Paul Townend, but slowly but surely he stealthily moved into contention and there was an inevitably about the result when he went in pursuit of the bold-jumping Jordans approaching the elbow.
He found plenty to run down the leader and gallop to glory once again, a result which sees owner JP McManus become the most successful owner in National history with four victories, while trainer Willie Mullins was also winning the race for a fourth time, putting him alongside George Dockeray, who trained the first ever winner, Lottery, in 1839, Fred Rimell and McCain as the joint record holder.
There is very little McManus has not won during his long and storied spell in the sport, but the enormity of winning this most prestigious of prizes once again was not lost on him as he celebrated the success alongside his wife Noreen, who has recently suffered ill health, and the rest of his family.
“I’m here with nine grandchildren, all my family and there are lads back at home that play such a big part in it on the farm,” said McManus, also the owner of runner-up Iroko and fourth home Johnnywho.
“It’ll mean a lot to so many. There’ll be a few tears shed along the way, I just saw Noreen there and she’s very emotional about it.
“Noreen is a fighter. This time last year if you heard you were going to win a Grand National and we’d all be here to celebrate it it would be a great result. It’s a very special day.”Â
Only seven horses have won more the Grand National more than once and only one has won three, with Red Rum going back-to-back in 1973 and 1974 before unforgettably completing the hat-trick three years later.
McManus – who conceded he had a “little on” his heavily-backed winner – added: “The Grand National is something very special and there is such a tradition with it.
“We have a bit do to catch up with Red Rum, but we’ll definitely try! Red Rum is the figurehead of the National, it’s nice to be even mentioned in the same breath as Red Rum.
“When you have a horse like that you only aim for these things. It would be great to be the second three-time winner, but we’ll celebrate this one first and we’ll see what unfolds.” Like McManus, Mullins is a man who tears up the record books with staggering regularity, this latest achievement seeing him become the first trainer since Vincent O’Brien in 1953, 1954 and 1955 to win three consecutive Nationals.
The master of Closutton is also dreaming of another triumph in 2027.
He said: “It’s extraordinary and I’m delighted. You could never dream of doing something like this. Thanks to this man (McManus) things that are not even dreams are coming true.
“Hopefully I’ll be here next year and hopefully I Am Maximus will.”
In a race with plenty of early drama that saw last year’s third Grangeclare West part company with Patrick Mullins – who won last year aboard Nick Rockett – at the first, and Panic Attack fall at the third, I Am Maximus tracked the inside path he knows so well in the hands of Paul Townend.
As the race began to develop, Ben Jones made a bold bid to supplement his King George win on The Jukebox Man aboard Joseph O’Brien’s Jordans after two out – but a JP McManus-owned challenge was looming and it was the heavily-backed 9-2 favourite who stormed home best from the elbow to win the race for a second time, having also finished second 12 months ago.
It was a record fourth win in the race for McManus, who also saw his Iroko go two places better than last year for second – another first in the race for one owner to have the first two home. Jordans was third, with Johnnywho fourth.
Mullins, who joins Red Rum’s trainer Ginger McCain and Fred Rimell as a four-time National-winning handler, said: “It was a good call from JP, I’d been going down the Gold Cup route with him, but he said to stay in Aintree with him as he felt he was well handicapped. Paul just executed it so well.
“It is (hard to win off top-weight), but maybe the modern-day National is changing and we’re looking at it a bit differently.
“It’s the race we aspire (to win). It’s the race you want to win and be a part of – just to have a runner is a tremendous sensation.
“He is just a superstar – nothing fazes him. He comes out, does what he has to do and wins Nationals.”
Said Townend: “The cheekpieces helped. I wasn’t going to be the one to go chasing them and I was able to get a lead ot the Elbow. I didn’t know where the loose horse was going yo go. He’s a really good horse. This lad wasn’t telling me not to ride him so I couldn’t not ride him. It’s right up there, in my sport it’s Grand Nationals and Gold Cups. I got em both.”
Added trainer Mullins: “The most trouble he got was from his stablemates they didn’t give him much room. Wow, a good call from JP. I wanted to go down the Gold Cup route. He said he was well handicapped.”
1. I Am Maximus (Paul Townend) 9-2 Fav; 2. Iroko (Jonjo O’Neill Jr.) 18-1; 3. Jordans (Ben Jones) 28-1; 4 .Johnnywho (R P McLernon) 12-1.
1. I Am Maximus; 2. Iroko; 3. Jordans; 4. Johnnywho; 5. High Class Hero; 6. Favori De Champdou; 7. Final Orders; 8 Champ Kiely; 9 Three Card Brag; 10. Monty’s Star; 11 Answer To Kayf; 12 Gorgeous Tom; 13 Imperial Saint; 14 Haiti Couleurs; 15. Twig; 16. Firefox.
Fell, unseated rider or pulled up: Banbridge (unseated rider); Grangeclare West (unseated rider); Gerri Colombe (fell); Spanish Harlem (pulled up); Lecky Watson (pulled up); Oscar’s Brother (fell); Mr Vango (fell); Stellar Story (fell); Beauport (unseated rider);Captain Cody (unseated rider); Jagwar (unseated rider); Perceval Legallois (unseated rider); The Real Whacker (pulled up); Quai De Bourbon (fell); Marble Sands (fell); Panic Attack (fell); Top Of The Bill (fell); Amirite (pulled up).
