When one punter showed complete confidence in I Am Maximus by placing a bet of £100,000 with an on-course bookmaker about him winning the Grand National for a second time, perhaps the writing was on the wall for his Aintree rivals.
Owned by JP McManus, I Am Maximus was the winner of the world’s greatest steeplechase in 2024 and second 12 months ago, and was bidding to emulate Red Rum in regaining his Liverpool crown. He duly did, powering home as the 9-2 favourite in the hands of Paul Townend.
Well-known pundit and personality Johnny Dineen was fronting the Fitzwilliam pitch that took the bet and told the Press Association: “It’s the biggest bet we’ve ever taken, £100,000 at 8-1.
“It’s our biggest bet by a mile and we’ll have to try to trade some of it off in the ring.
“It goes without saying it would be a bad result for us!”
I Am Maximus was one of six runners for McManus — who admitted he had a “little bit on” — in the race and as well as the winner he had the second in Iroko and fourth in Johnnywho.
With Dineen having left to catch a flight home, it was left to Kieran Stokes to tell Fitzwilliam’s tale of woe.
“We did lay some of it off but not enough!” he said.
“It was the money that followed after which made it worse as he went off 9-2, it was just a steady stream of support for him in the final hour.
“Grangeclare West was very popular, but we also laid a few quid on Jordans as well so when he shot clear and the only hope we had of getting him beat was I Am Maximus we knew we were in trouble!
– I Am Maximus: Beginner’s Guide to 2026 Grand National winner
“It’s been a great week, our first time here and it’s not put us off, we’ll be back next year to have another go. It’s the hardest race of the year for a reason.
“You grew up on stories of how good trade was in betting rings and this has been a throwback to that I suppose.
“There was an almighty gamble on the winner of the Irish National on Easter Monday as well, but we were on the right end of that as the owner of the horse, Paul Byrne, also owns our company!”
