In a race where fortunes can switch in an instant, I Am Maximus and his trainer, Willie Mullins, are on a roll like few others in Grand National history. The 10-year-old’s two-and-a-half-length victory on Saturday, powering past Iroko and the faltering Jordans, who had a three-length lead over the last, was his second in three years, having finished runner-up behind a stable-companion here 12 months ago. Mullins has now won three Nationals in a row, the first trainer to do so since Vincent O’Brien in 1955.
From horse and trainer, it is the stuff of legends. Red Rum, the most cherished Aintree hero of them all, was the last to win the race in non-consecutive years. He came home for a record third success – “preceded only by loose horses”, in Peter O’Sullevan’s famous commentary – in 1977. Mullins’s fourth win – his first was with Hedgehunter in 2005 – gives him a share of the all-time record, along with George Dockeray, Fred Rimell and Ginger McCain.
