The 2026 Grand National: what the RaceiQ data told us

I Am Maximus, commander of the Randox Grand National. General of Closutton. Loyal servant to JP McManus, Willie Mullins and Paul Townend. Son of Authorized, friend of punters.

Speeches may be beyond the powers of I Am Maximus, but the equine gladiator again let his actions do the talking at Aintree on Saturday when he became the first horse since Red Rum to regain his crown and defy top weight.

There will only ever be one Red Rum, of course, who won three Grand Nationals and finished second in two more, but I Am Maximus still has time to emulate him.

The RaceiQ data tells us that the ten-year-old again did things the hard way.

Only two of the 17 horses who negotiated all 30 fences jumped worse than him, while he was still only fourth jumping the last. But the horse with bottomless stamina and courage was not for stopping.

Early editions of the Grand National featured stone walls and you get the impression that I Am Maximus would gallop through one if he had to.

He kept on relentlessly on to collar Jordans inside the final furlong before fending off Iroko by two and a half lengths. He was conceding that pair 18lb and 11lb, showing weight may stop trains, but not this relentless competitor.

His staying power again shone through, especially in the final half mile on ground made easier by a couple of hefty showers.

He polished off those four furlongs in 58.66sec, which was 0.7sec quicker than Iroko. None of the others slipped under a minute, although Johnnywhomight have done had he not met some trouble in running.

I Am Maximus was fastest in furlong 32, fastest in furlong 33, and almost fastest in furlong 34. His Finishing Speed percentage was 109.16%.

A year ago, he had taken 62.79sec to complete the final four furlongs, and 12 months before that 59.85sec. So, this was a new PB.

RaceiQ reveals he lost 4.22 lengths with his jumping, although that was better than last year (6.83) and in 2024 (4.39).

His supporters will have been anxious watching him clear the second – he lost more than 8pm – and for the third year running his leaping in the middle section of the race was cautious. Between fences 10 and 22, he lost ground at 11, surrendering a length or more at five of them.

But at least he stayed on his feet. When he won in 2024, not a single horse fell. This time, seven ended up on the floor and seven more unseated their riders, with spruce fences demolished.

Iroko went two places better than last year to take the runner-up spot, giving McManus a historic 1-2.

He jumped fine and had every chance, being marginally faster than I Am Maximus in the final furlong without threatening to challenge him.

Jordans ran a remarkable race in third, looking like he might have slipped his field under Ben Jones only to be collared in the final furlong.

He was 22nd at halfway and still only 12th a mile from home.  A furlong later he was sixth (17.01sec) and a furlong after that he was second (15.99sec). 

Joseph O'Brien's seven-year-old led after 3m 5f courtesy of a 14.23sec furlong, and then Jones went for broke, with Jordans zipping through the next furlong in just 13sec. That's the fastest furlong in the race in RaceIQ's database, spanning the past four years.

He was also marginally quicker than I Am Maximus in furlong 31, but then the tide turned, with the winner 2.72sec quicker than him over the final three furlongs.

Should Jones have paused for longer on a horse who was taking a big jump in distance, or did he almost steal what was a steadily run and eventful race? There’s a fine line, but what cannot be doubted is that Jordans was betrayed by his jumping.

He got a Jump Index score of 6.4 and lost 9.81 lengths getting from A to B. Up to and including the 13th fence, he had lost ground at every obstacle and surrendered 14 lengths.

More ground was lost at six of the next seven obstacles (he had lost 18 lengths by fence 20) before he belatedly got the hang of what was required and clawed some lengths back.

The overall standard of jumping left plenty to be desired, with only three runners (Monty’s Star, Champ Kiely and Final Orders) earning a score of 8 or more. Monty’s Star went into the race with the highest Career Jump Index score (8.6) and was the most efficient on this occasion (8.1), but he faded to be tenth after being third half a mile out.

Mullins took the spoils with I Am Maximus, but his domination was nothing like last year. Five of his other runners did not complete, including the well-fancied Grangeclare West, who unshipped Patrick Mullins at the first when in last place.

Mullins Jr was enraged. About 9 minutes later, Townend was overjoyed.

I Am Maximus has always been renowned for his quirks and Mullins Sr revealed some additional data at the post-race press conference involving babies and pensioners.

He said: “You know our parade that we have after big winners like the Grand National and the Gold Cup at our local pub? 

"Normally the horses come back into the car park and we have an icecream van for the kids - or more likely the adults have all the icecream - and people want their photograph taken with the horse.

"Galopin De Champ was there for about an hour and a half and I think Lossiemouth was there for two hours probably.

"But I Am Maximus - he ate about three babies and kicked about four pensioners! We had to load him up and bring him home after five minutes. That’s I Am Maximus. He will eat you without salt. He is a character - don’t stand in his way!"

And nothing could at Aintree on Saturday. Again.