Reflecting on the latest running of the new Grand National
The Grand National of 2026 is now in the history books and what a contest it was. What emerged from the mass of chaos was one of the great Grand National performances from the Willie Mullins-trained and Paul Townend-ridden I Am Maximus to become the first horse to regain the trophy since the great Red Rum.
Mullins underlined his GOAT status by delivering I Am Maximus back to his third Grand National to produce a career-best effort in victory. If someone had said that this horse would go on to be one of the Grand National greats after watching him blunder through his novice chase season back in 2022/23, they’d have been committed to the mad house. For Mullins to have orchestrated three consecutive campaigns since then that have seen him peak on the day that mattered most and retain so much enthusiasm to come back better each year really is quite something.
Mind, with Mullins’s preparation complete and the runners assembled at the start, last Saturday became about two individuals working as one; I Am Maximus and Paul Townend. The horse has his own way of jumping, but Townend understands it and makes the best of whatever odd shape I Am Maximus chooses to make over his fences. Townend has been there and done it in this race, but even considering that, the confidence that he showed in himself and his horse to sit and sit when the race was getting hotter and hotter was just incredible to watch. The modern Grand National rewards patience, and Townend showed so much of it that even Job might have been getting hot under the collar after the third-last fence. Mind, another JOB will be left to wonder what might have been had similar patience been shown more widely at that stage of the race, but such is life and horse racing. All being well, everyone involved will get their chance at Grand National redemption in the fullness of time.
For I Am Maximus to produce the power-packed finish he did off top weight and a rating of 168 was just sensational. The old boys will howl in objection at the mere suggestion, but I have no doubt that what the likes of Tiger Roll and I Am Maximus have done in this race in recent times is just as, if not more, difficult than what greats like Red Rum achieved in the past. Yes, you don’t need to tweet me, obviously the jumping test was immeasurably greater back in those days, but a product of the modern race being such a lesser test of jumping is that it has become a substantially more competitive and high-class race than Grand Nationals of decades ago. This isn’t a race to find the best jumper, or even the best horse, but rather a race to find the best-handicapped horse on the day - and there are very few genuine no-hopers in a modern Grand National. For I Am Maximus and Tiger Roll before him to beat off such massive and highly-competitive fields again and again is just remarkable.
In broader terms, the 2024 and 2025 renewals of the Grand National had been notable for seeing hardly any fallers, unseats or general mayhem. Depending on one’s outlook, the perception of this ranged from considering it mercifully incident-free to the other extreme of a dull snooze fest that was an insult to the heritage of the race. No middle-ground opinions allowed, obviously.
As it transpired, the 2026 renewal served to remind us that while the fences have changed greatly and the field size has been reduced, there is still a great amount of uncertainty and potential for drama in the modern Grand National. Seven fallers and seven unseats made for a dramatic spectacle, with many fancied horses giving their supporters only brief hope before exiting the race. Much effort has been made in the design of the track to “capture” as many loose horses in specifically designed holding pens, but more than a few loose horses evaded these measures and added a sense of trepidation for much of the race.
The old curmudgeons won’t be for turning on their opinion of the modern Grand National either way, but I can’t imagine that a younger viewer that has only experienced the new version of the Grand National will have felt short-changed last Saturday if they had bought into the billing of the Grand National being one of the most exciting 10 minutes in sport.
The old Grand National is gone. In truth, it has been gone for decades, and we really should just stop harking back to it (guilty as charged, clearly). What we are left with is still our most high-profile and high-risk, but also most exhilarating, National Hunt race on the planet. There will be those that still wish to live in the past, and they are entitled to do so, but let the rest of us enjoy what remains one of the great sporting spectacles.
Moving with the times in the new Grand National
In light of the Grand National being such a different race now, I can’t help but feel that the conditions of the race are due an update.
The average age and levels of chasing experience of those that are winning or getting very competitive in the race has been dropping sharply in the last decade, while it is also widely acknowledged that the race is no longer a notable test of jumping, yet the conditions of the race have not moved in response to this.
It seems completely unnecessary to retain the minimum age of seven and require the runners to have had at least six runs over fences. The age requirement is particularly out of touch with the speed of progression that many horses, particularly those that start their careers in France, are sent over fences nowadays. It is also out of touch with the increased willingness of trainers to run inexperienced chasers in high-class handicap chases.
To illustrate this point, when one looks at the Irish Grand National last week, three six-year-olds and one five-year-old took part, while 14 of the 30 runners had less than six runs over fences coming into the race and thus wouldn’t have been qualified to run in the Grand National. For information, none of the first four finishers would have been qualified to run in the Grand National due to not having had enough runs over fences.
The Grand National has changed greatly, and so denying what are likely to be excellent candidates the opportunity to run in the race due to outdated conditions makes very little sense.
