The 2024 Grand National: what the RaceiQ data told us

I Am Maximus was a stunning winner of the Randox Grand National and the RaceiQ data reveals that if he ever learns to jump more fluently then there might easily be an even bigger performance in him. 

The Willie Mullins-trained eight-year-old finished like a fresh horse, hitting the line hard and winning by seven-and-a-half lengths from Delta Work after six horses had jumped the final fence together. 

Those who questioned his jumping technique beforehand were left eating humble pie and out of pocket. The post-race chatter was not about how his leaping had let him down, but whether he could be another Cheltenham Gold Cup contender for his all-conquering connections. 

Yet, in many respects, the doubters were right. 

I Am Maximus didn’t jump that well, but his class and abundant stamina meant that it didn’t matter. 

The RaceiQ data makes for fascinating reading and takes all the guesswork out of who gained or lost when or where in the race. It helps us measure the exact jumping prowess of the 32 runners over Aintree’s 30 spruce fences. 

If you knew beforehand that 15 of I Am Maximus’s rivals would be quicker in getting from A to B in the race – and that he would would lose an aggregate of 4.33 lengths with his jumping  - then you’d have almost certainly thought twice about backing the 7/1 chance. 

But that’s exactly what occured. 

All the other runners who finished in the first eight jumped better, plus several of the also-rans and those who ended up failing to complete. 

Just imagine if I Am Maximus had jumped as well as Meetingofthewaters, Kitty’s Light, Minella Indo or even Eldorado Allen. If he had, we’d be hailing him as one of the most spectacular National winners there has ever been. 

RaceiQ show us that seventh-placed Meetingofthewaters gained a whopping 22.46 lengths with his jumping, while Kitty’s Light (fifth) gained 15.56 lengths and Minella Indo (third) 12.25 lengths. Each were a joy to watch as they glided over the obstacles. 

Eldorado Allen ended up beating only one home but the grey also gave Brendan Powell a great spin, gaining 13 lengths with his jumping. Lack of staying power was clearly his undoing. 

I Am Maximus reserved his best jump for the final fence, where he gained 2.52 lengths and lost only 3.61mph, plus had a speed recovery time of just 0.1 seconds. Contrast that to his sticky start, where at the first fence he lost 1.79 lengths, 8.71mph and had a speed recovery time of 1.9 seconds. 

Overall, his jumping was nothing like the weapon it was for last year’s winner, Corach Rambler, who gained 12.66 lengths. 

There has been plenty of discussion about the modified National fences – some suggesting they have become too easy - but the well-fancied quartet of Panda Boy, Limerick Lace, Noble Yeats and Mr Incredible found them plenty of a challenge. 

Between them, they lost 65 lengths with their jumping. Panda Boy jumped worst of all the runners who completed, losing more than 24 lengths, while the other trio all lost a minimum of 12 lengths. Mr Incredible had already surrendered an average of a length per fence  when he exited at 15th, The Chair. 

Incidentally, Panda Boy and The Goffer were the horses with the biggest strides (average of 6.19 metres) but covering more ground didn’t help them. The Goffer stretched to 7.33 metres at one stage.

Limerick Lace was the big gamble for the race, with her odds tumbling from 25/1 to 7/1 in the days beforehand. Usually a nimble jumper, she found this a tougher test and lost 14.56 lengths with her leaping but stayed on to be tenth. She was beaten an aggregate of 30 lengths. 

The sectional times reveal a relatively steadily-run edition, with I Am Maximus’s finishing speed percentage being 110.5 per cent. He covered the final half-mile in 59.85sec, with his winning time being 9min 27.68sec, easily the slowest since Tiger Roll in 2018. 

Most of the horses in the race recorded their quickest furlongs at the 3m6f stage, but, tellingly, I Am Maximus’s quickest furlong came from 4m to 4m1f. He clocked 14.45secs, telling us that he had plenty left in his purring engine at the business end of the contest. 

The fastest time in the whole race? That was recorded by Minella Indo, in the first furlong, when he hit 33.75mph. 

So what, you may ask. Well, 17 horses clocked a quicker faster furlong than that in the race 12 months ago, under similar ground conditions, with Coko Beach nudging over 35mph in the early stages.

That suggests strongly that moving the start closer to the first fence had the desired effect of slowing the runners down early on. And that in turn set the pattern for a race where there were refreshingly few incidents and accidents.

Minella Indo led after the final fence under Rachael Blackmore but, by that stage, I Am Maximus was building up a head of steam. He maybe an average jumper, but he’s anything but an average National winner.