The Gladiator of Aintree, I Am Maximus Gives Bookies Mercy
I am Maximus stormed to victory in the 176th Grand National on the second Saturday of April. His victory as the 7/1 joint-favorite meant 2024 was the first time in 130 years that the race had been won by favorites in back-to-back years. Nevertheless, Britain’s bookmakers reported themselves “relatively unscathed” when comparing their profit and loss columns.
Remarkably, there were no fallers in the four-mile two-furlong marathon, which saw 32 horses meet the starter. Twenty-one horses finished the race, only four unseated their jockeys, and seven others were pulled up. The 2023 Grand National winner, Corach Rambler, was among those to dispatch their riders.
Paul Townend landed his first Grand National when I Am Maximus streaked clear to take the famous contest in April. Could the same horse cross the line ahead in the 2025 Gold Cup? ©Getty
The Scottish-trained star unseated his rider, Derek Fox, at the first fence. After the race, bookmaker spokespersons agreed his departure gave firms a collective sigh of relief. The 10-year-old had been heavily backed throughout the year and started on 15/2. One firm declared, “Corach Rambler saved us over £5 million.”
Since World War II, Corach Rambler is now one of five horses to have won the race and not reached the second obstacle the following year. He joins a club that includes 1984 winner Hallo Dandy, Aldaniti (1981 winner), Gay Trip (1970 scorer), and Russian Hero (1949’s 66/1 winner).
Grand National One, Two and Threes
This year’s winner gave owner JP McManus a third triumph in the greatest steeplechase. I Am Maximus delivered a second for Mullins – his first being Hedgehunter in 2005 – and a first for jockey Paul Townend. He has become only the seventh jockey to win the Gold Cup and National in the same year.
JP McManus owned five runners in the 2024 Randox-sponsored National and, before the race, publicly stated he had backed his Limerick Lace on 33/1 odds. Badly hampered at the Canal Turn on the first circuit and later making a bad mistake, he trailed home in tenth. It was good news for bookmakers as Limerick Lace was backed in from 12/1 into 7/1 (joint-favourite) in the lead-up to off-time.
I AM MAXIMUS flies home like a SERIOUS horse to win the Randox Grand National!
The horse they call Moo Moo at home ❤️🤣 pic.twitter.com/6ELFDbZOMH
— Aintree Racecourse (@AintreeRaces) April 13, 2024
A bookmaker over-round of 137 percent should have made it difficult for horse racing betting sites to lose on the race. But post-race, they thanked the fact that big-priced runners filled the five places behind the winner. Many firms did place their necks on the block by offering six places to each-way players.
The 2024 Grand National Result
| 1 | I Am Maximus | 7/1jf |
| 2 | Delta Work | 28/1 |
| 3 | Minella Indo | 28/1 |
| 4 | Galvin | 40/1 |
| 5 | Kitty’s Light | 12/1 |
| 6 | Ain’t That A Shame | 40/1 |
I Am Maximus began his career in the UK under the care of Nicky Henderson. Switched to Willie Mullins at the end of 2022, McManus bought him following an eye-catching fourth in the Brown Advisory Novices’ Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. It was a shrewd purchase; I Am Maximus won the Irish Grand National a month later.
Consequently, the eight-year-old joins Rhyme ‘n’ Reason (1988), Bobbyjo (1999), and Numbersixvalverde (2006) as one of the very few horses to win both races. I Am Maximus is also only the seventh French-bred winner of the Grand National and the first since Pineau de Re in 2014.
What Is Next for the Grand National Winner?
I Am Maximus has joined some distinguished contemporaries in the Grand National history books. But while many now question if he can emulate Tiger Roll, Red Rum, and Reynoldstown by winning the National in back-to-back years, a different record may be attempted in 2025.
Only 1934 National winner Golden Miller and 1975 scorer L’Escargot have won both the Aintree showpiece and the Cheltenham Gold Cup. Post-race comments by Willie Mullins suggest I Am Maximus will now attempt to emulate these two legends.
“He’s a very quirky horse and always has been. One day, he would go out and jump left; the next day, he would go out and jump right. You never know what he’s going to do. He came today and showed us how good he is,” stated Mullins after the National.
“I still think there’s more improvement to come, which means I think the Gold Cup next year is going to be his next objective. After the Bobbyjo [a Grade-3 Chase, I Am Maximus won in February] I thought he was a Gold Cup horse. Today has enhanced that view I have of him,” the trainer added.
Bookmakers reacted by introducing I Am Maximus into their 2025 Gold Cup markets on 20/1. His stablemate – and two-time Gold Cup winner – Galopin Des Champs heads the betting on 3/1. In the 2025 Grand National betting, I Am Maximus tops online betting sites lists as the 16/1 ante-post favorite.
