Grand National 2025: I Am Maximus must emulate Red Rum to win Aintree double

The Guardian

11-02-2025

I Am Maximus, the easy winner of last year's Grand National, will need to emulate a feat last achieved by the mighty Red Rum if he is to double up at Aintree on 5 April after he was allotted top weight of 11st 12lb when the handicap for the world's most famous steeplechase was published on Tuesday.
Red Rum, who is buried next to the winning post at Aintree, is most familiar to the British sporting public as the only horse ever to win the Grand National three times, but he was also the last horse to carry top weight to victory, when he won for the second time – under what was then the maximum burden of 12st – in 1974.
Fifty-one years later, I Am Maximus must defy a similar burden if he is to become only the seventh horse in the race's 186-year history to win a second Aintree National, but the positive news for his supporters – he is the early 12-1 second-favourite – is that a modern National offers a somewhat different challenge to the one that faced Red Rum in the 1970s.
Last year's race was the first to be run after a number of alterations to the conditions, the start and several fences with the aim of improving safety for horses and riders, including a reduction in the maximum field from 40 to 34 runners.
It was also, remarkably, a Grand National with no fallers, the percentage of runners completing the course was the highest for 32 years and there was a memorable spectacle for both spectators and armchair viewers as around 20 horses galloped towards the second-last still in with a chance.
I Am Maximus, meanwhile, was able to shrug off a couple of minor jumping errors on the way to victory that might have been more heavily penalised in the past, and his class and stamina carried him nearly eight lengths clear of the runner-up at the line after jumping the last with five rivals still in front of him.
It was a performance that would once have seen him burdened with an extra few pounds on top of his current handicap mark to account for the 'Aintree factor' in his form. The current handicapper, Martin Greenwood, however, takes less notice of past performances at the track and I Am Maximus will line up just 8lb higher in the weights compared to last year's race.
Southwell: 11.55 Moon Over The Sea 12.25 Smokey Malone 12.55 Agent Mayfair 1.30 First Ambition 2.05 Mumayaz (nap) 2.40 Ash Wednesday 3.15 Manyana Blue 3.50 McKenna 4.20 Cut To The Chase (nb).
Hereford: 1.10 Tommy The Tank 1.43 Play It Again 2.18 Simple Getaway 2.53 Boys Of Wexford 3.28 Olivia Kate 4.03 Reallyntruthfully 4.38 Race To Base.
Wetherby: 1.55 Wendigo 2.30 Sound And Fury 3.05 Live Conti 3.40 Getaway Drumlee 4.13 Il Va De Soi 4.48 Royal Rhythm.
Kempton: 4.25 Brasil Power 5.00 Galette 5.30 Perfect Parole 6.00 Megalithic 6.30 More Than A Feelin 7.00 Cajetan 7.30 Upepo 8.00 Stacey Racey.
There is always a minus to balance every plus in the National, however, as Willie Mullins, I Am Maximus's trainer, conceded. 'It's top weight and it's tough, but we had an idea that it would be,' Mullins said. 'My worry is that sometimes when they go back, they don't like it, but he looked to love it last year so hopefully he'll come back and be as good as he was last year.'
The top three horses in the early National betting all carry the green and gold colours of JP McManus, as Gavin Cromwell's Inothewayurthinkin, fourth home in the Irish Gold Cup earlier this month and set to carry 11st 5lb, is priced up at 10-1, while Iroko, from Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero's stable in Cheshire, is the first British-trained runner in the lists at 14-1.
Horses trained in Ireland filled six of the first seven places at Aintree last April and both Mullins and Gordon Elliott have multiple entries in the latest renewal. Mullins highlighted the chances of both the 33-1 shot Meetingofthewaters (10st 7lb) – yet another runner for the McManus operation – and the recent Thyestes Chase winner, Nick Rockett (11st 8lb), at Tuesday's annual lunch in Liverpool to unveil the weights.
'I think Meetingofthewaters has a lovely weight,' Mullins said. 'He ran very well last year and I think my eye was drawn to him when I saw his weight. He's one I like.'
Ireland's challenge is likely to be further strengthened by Intense Raffles, last year's Irish Grand National winner, from Tom Gibney's stable near Trim in County Meath.
Intense Raffles (10st 10lb) has had two quiet runs over hurdles since his success at Fairyhouse last April, when he was the youngest horse in the field, and will have one more outing in a chase – in order to qualify for Aintree – as Gibney primes the seven-year-old to be at his peak on the first weekend in April. At around 16-1, he is possibly the pick of the early prices.
'We're hoping to get serious now as we get a bit closer,' Gibney said. 'All being well, he'll run again, not this weekend but the next weekend at Fairyhouse. It was a great performance [in the Irish National] and if we can get him back to that, I'd be very happy.'