A - ZRunners Horse Racing Fixtures and Results

Ratings Update: I Am Maximus posts best winning performance in Grand National

Timeform's chase handicapper Phil Turner reacts to I Am Maximus' second Grand National win and puts into context his rating of 171.

I Am Maximus became just the ninth horse to win the Grand National more than once, in the process also becoming the first since the legendary Red Rum in 1977 to both regain his crown and shoulder top weight to victory.

Three-time winner Red Rum may still lead the way from a statistical viewpoint – including his record under top weight of two wins and two seconds – but I Am Maximus must now be viewed as the classiest National winner since World War II (if not ever), his rating of 171 by far the best posted by a winner since Timeform started rating jumps horses in the early-1960s, placing him 5lb ahead of Red Rum’s peak Aintree figure and 6lb ahead of fellow dual winner Tiger Roll.

Red Rum’s fan club - of which I’m a fully paid-up member! - will naturally point to the fact that the modern-day plastic National fences bear little relation to those used in the 1970s. Indeed, I Am Maximus possibly wouldn’t have even been entered in the race back then due to concerns about his jumping being up to scratch. That said, it would be wrong to dismiss his achievements on that score alone. Ironically, one of the knock-on effects of making the fences so much easier is that the race has actually become harder to win in some respects due to so many horses completing nowadays.