Legendary Grand National Winners and Big Shocks
Red Rum and Tiger Roll Among the Legendary National Winners
We need to start with Red Rum, the legendary horse and the only runner to win the Grand National on three separate occasions. The first success came in 1973 when the Ginger McCain-trained runner obliged as the 9/1 joint-favourite. He then returned to Aintree a year later and was able to score a successive victory at odds of 11/1.
In 1977, Red Rum appeared at the Aintree track as a twelve-year-old and the horse made history at odds of 9/1. It was a remarkable feat which has never been matched, although Tiger Roll may have landed a consecutive hat-trick of wins had it not been for the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Gordon Elliott-trained horse was a 10/1 winner in 2018 and was then heavily backed into 4/1 in 2019 when obliging once again. This was the shortest-priced winner in modern Grand National history, with Tiger Roll becoming the first horse to win consecutive Nationals since the legendary Red Rum.
Mon Mome Scores at 100/1…
There are lots of big-priced Grand National winners in recent times. However, Mon Mome landed a 100/1 victory in the 2009 race. The Venetia Williams-trained charge was able to outstay the field, obliging as a nine-year-old for jockey Liam Treadwell.
Not only did Mon Mome land a success but it was by a considerable distance. He was able to land the spoils by twelve lengths, beating the 2008 winner Comply Or Die in the process. It was the first time that a horse had won at such big odds since Foinavon in 1967 and there's a big story behind that success.
…Following in the Footsteps of Foinavon
You may have heard the name Foinavon. One of the Grand National fences is labelled with this name. At this fence in the 1967 race, there were chaotic scenes which saw a melee at the twenty-third obstacle. Plenty of horses were caught up when a loose horse piled into the leading Rutherfords.
It meant that there was a pile-up of horses and it enabled Foinavon to navigate his way past the scrum and jump the fence. It means that the runner was well clear of the field, even with some horses being remounted in an attempt to reel in the outsider. The horse had an SP of 100/1 although you could have got odds of 444/1 on the Tote.
Noble Yeats Among Other Big-Priced Winners
The Grand National is littered with big-priced winners over the years and some of these have happened recently. Noble Yeats was the 50/1 victor in 2022 when beating 15/2 favourite Any Second Now by just over two lengths. Emmet Mullins saw his seven-year-old run a blinder and it was the first time that an amateur jockey had won since 1990. Sam Waley-Cohen steered home the first seven-year-old since 1940.
In 2025, Nick Rockett came home as the 33/1 winner despite being trained by Willie Mullins. Other horses from his stable were regarded as stronger contenders although the Irish handler also saddled the second and third-placed horses. 2024 winner I Am Maximus followed home his stablemate and Grangeclare West gave Mullins that 1-2-3.
Between 2012 and 2016, there were a succession of big-priced winners who were able to land a victory. Neptune Collonges scored in the earliest of these years and was a 33/1 winner for Paul Nicholls, the first time that the trainer had won in this race. A year later it was the turn of Auroras Encore to oblige at massive odds of 66/1.
The latter was trained by Sue Smith and it was a success for jockey Ryan Mania at the first time of asking in the Grand National. The outsider was able to oblige by nine lengths when beating the shorter-priced Cappa Bleu and Teaforthree, with Oscar Time being the 66/1 fourth-placed horse.
Then came 25/1 winners in successive years. Pineau De Re and Many Clouds were the champions in 2014 and 2015 respectively. The former came home for Dr Richard Newland and became the third successive eleven-year-old to win. Then Many Clouds was an eight-year-old success for trainer Oliver Sherwood.
In 2016, Rule The World was the winner for handler Mouse Morris and that was a 33/1 success for a Gigginstown horse. Jockey David Mullins won the race for the first time and the charge obliged when seeing off joint-favourite The Last Samuri.