‘We wanted more diamonds': The making of this year's Grand National trophy

Telegraph

04-04-2025

'When you're a child you dream about riding the winner of the Grand National; it's such an iconic race, as high as you can go in racing,' says the Irish racehorse trainer Willie Mullins. 'I remember the first time I won it; I was on cloud nine for the entire year.'
Although he never scooped the sport's top prize in his career as a jockey, as a trainer he's won twice: in 2005 with Hedgehunter, ridden by Ruby Walsh, and last year with the nine-year-old gelding I Am Maximus, whose jockey Paul Townend is favourite to repeat the feat in today's race. If he succeeds, Townend will be the second jockey to win back-to-back Grand Nationals on the same horse since Brian Fletcher on Red Rum in 1974 (the other being Davy Russell on Tiger Roll in 2019).
'I Am Maximus can be a complicated character, but Paul gets on very well with him and is able to read him and keep him happy. That's essential in any marriage and that's basically what a horse and jockey are for the course of the race,' says Mullins, who has worked with Townend since the jockey joined his yard as a 15-year-old apprentice. The essential characteristic of a Grand National-winning jockey? 'You need a guy who's lucky, number one,' says Mullins. Implicit trust of the horse, the ability to adapt to whatever unfolds in the famously unpredictable race, and a cool head are the other non-negotiables. But then, as Mullins adds, 'Anyone who rides a horse over a 5ft fence at almost 40 miles per hour is a fairly cool customer.'
Every year millions of people worldwide watch 34 horses hurtle around four miles and two-and-a-half furlongs in the world's most famous steeplechase. Notoriously dangerous, in recent years the Grand National's fences have been made smaller and more flexible, and the number of runners reduced in a bid to improve safety for the horses and their jockeys. Nevertheless, says Mullins, 'It's a race where everyone has a chance and anything can happen.'
Whoever wins will scoop £500,000 for their horse's owner, along with the 40cm-high, 6kg sterling silver trophy, made by British jeweller Boodles. The house, which was founded in Liverpool in 1798, has a history of decorating Grand National winners: it first created a solid gold cup for the 1937 race, and supplied trophies for Aintree races throughout the 1950s and '60s.
In the house's archive is a letter dated 18 March 1950 from Anthony Wainwright, then chairman of Boodles, to Mrs Mirabel Topham, owner of Aintree Racecourse, enclosing a photograph of that year's Grand National gold cup. 'I think you will agree it is a fine picture of a really beautiful article,' he writes, adding, 'The Worshipful Company of Goldsmiths think very highly of this trophy… whoever wins it will be approached for its exhibition at the 1951 Festival of Britain.'
That trophy was a traditional two-handled cup engraved with a scene from the race: far removed from this year's creation, commissioned by the Grand National's sponsor since 2017, Randox. The brief was to create something that entwines the world of horse racing with scientific elements to represent innovation, cutting-edge technology and human progress.
'It's no normal trophy, that's for sure,' says Anthony's son Michael Wainwright, who runs Boodles as executive chairman alongside his brother, Nicholas. A lifelong National Hunt fan, Michael is responsible for continuing the house's relationship with racing. Boodles has sponsored the Cheltenham Gold Cup since 2022, and made the Grand National trophies for the race's previous sponsors Martell, in the 1990s, and Crabbie's, from 2014 to 2016. The partnership with Randox arose from the Wainwrights' continuing relationship with the company's owner, Dr Peter FitzGerald.
'We know the FitzGeralds well; they like horse racing, we like horse racing, and so they called us up last May and asked if we'd like to do it,' says Michael. 'It's a heck of a weight – here, try it.' He hoists over this year's prize, which was handmade in a workshop in Kent. Crafted from 4.25kg of sterling silver with malachite, carnelian and a dusting of diamonds, it looks more like an futuristic sculpture than a sporting award.
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Michael talks me through its various elements: a stylised horseshoe, a twisting DNA double helix crossed by 16 bars, a molecular structure of 16 gold-plated atoms, representing the 16 jumps of the course, and a rectangular biochip, a reference to Randox's testing technology. A malachite base nods to the green of the turf and Boodles' historic use of green onyx in its trophies. The outermost two discs inset into the biochip are here embellished with 0.78 carats of pavé-set diamonds.
'We wanted more diamonds, actually,' says Michael. 'Our first submission had a lot more. I'm glad we left a few in because it creates a note of interest. None of the other trophies have diamonds in; it's something we were able to bring to this design that nobody else would have. We don't actively pursue trophy-making as a business – we're jewellers – but to be able to demonstrate our design skills for an event as prestigious as the Grand National is really an honour,' he adds.
The finished trophy was unveiled for the first time during the Weights Lunch, when the Grand National weights were revealed, at St George's Hall in Liverpool in February. The winning jockey will receive a smaller version, as will the winning horse's trainer and breeder; the horse's owner gets the original. Competition is fierce, but friendly. 'There's a great party atmosphere at Aintree; everybody's high on anticipation – and Champagne,' says Mullins.
'Being a Liverpool business, we have a lot of customers in that part of the world,' says Michael, whose love of the sport goes beyond his family company's official ties. Having fallen in love with racing as a child, when he'd accompany his father to Aintree, Bangor and Haydock Park, he's now a member of the Cheltenham Racecourse Committee and counts the sport's leading trainers and jockeys as friends. He co-owns several horses, one of which, Ga Law, won the Paddy Power Gold Cup in 2022.
'The one thing all companies that sponsor horse races have in common is a chief executive or an owner who likes horse racing,' he says. 'My co-directors, my brother and my nephews, aren't remotely interested in horse racing, but we do see the value in sponsoring the Gold Cup.' The house entertains hundreds of clients during Cheltenham. 'We also pick up new customers. It's worth a lot,' Michael adds. 'It's also a lot of fun.
'People go to Ascot to watch each other, but people go to National Hunt racing to watch the race,' he says. 'With flat racing it's all about money, whereas in jump racing you're not in it for money. You're in it for the fun.' And perhaps, this year, the diamonds.