The 2027 Grand National already has the sort of story Aintree does best.
It is not just about a famous horse coming back. It is not just about Willie Mullins, JP McManus or Paul Townend. It is about the number that has stood above the race for nearly 50 years.
Three.
Only one horse has ever won the Grand National three times. That horse is Red Rum.
Now I Am Maximus has the chance to do something no horse has managed since 1977. If he can win the 2027 Grand National, he will not pass Red Rum, but he will join him on the most famous mark in the history of the race.
That is why his possible return to Aintree matters so much.
Why Three Grand National Wins Still Means So Much
The Grand National has been run for more than 180 years, yet only Red Rum has won it three times.
That tells you almost everything about how hard the race is to win once, never mind again and again.
The National is not like most top races. The fences, distance, field size, pace and luck all play their part. A horse needs stamina, class, jumping, bravery and the right ride. It also needs things to fall kindly on the day.
Many great horses have tried. Plenty have won it once and become part of racing history. A smaller number have won it twice. But three wins remains the line that only Red Rum has crossed.
That is why I Am Maximus is now facing something far bigger than a normal title defence.
He is two-thirds of the way to the greatest Grand National record of all.
Red Rum’s Place In The Race
Red Rum won the Grand National in 1973, 1974 and 1977. Those three wins made him the most famous horse in the history of Aintree, and one of the most loved racehorses Britain has ever known.
His record has never really looked under threat.
There have been brilliant winners since. Aldaniti, West Tip, Rough Quest, Hedgehunter, Ballabriggs and Many Clouds all wrote their names into the race. Tiger Roll came closest in recent times, winning in 2018 and 2019, but he never got the chance to go for a third win.
That left Red Rum alone. For almost five decades, the record has stood untouched. Not equalled. Not bettered. Barely even challenged.
I Am Maximus Has Already Built Aintree Form
I Am Maximus is already a major Grand National horse.
His 2024 win made him a star. His second in 2025 showed that he was not just a one-year wonder. His 2026 victory made the 2027 question impossible to ignore.
Horses do not keep running huge races in the Grand National by chance. Aintree exposes weakness. It finds out horses who do not stay, who do not jump well enough, or who cannot keep their rhythm in such a large field.
I Am Maximus has shown he can cope with all of it.
That is one of the strongest points in his favour. He does not need to prove he acts around Aintree. He does not need to prove he stays. He does not need to prove he belongs in a Grand National field.
He has already done all that.
Now the question is whether he can do it one more time.
Why 2027 Will Be His Hardest Task Yet
The problem is simple. Winning two Grand Nationals makes you a marked horse.
If I Am Maximus lines up in 2027, he will not slip into the race quietly. Every rival will know what he is. The handicapper will know what he is. The public will know what he is.
He is likely to carry a big weight, and that makes any Grand National even harder. Class can take a horse a long way, but Aintree still asks for stamina at the end of a long race. Every pound matters when the field turns for home.
Age is another factor. I Am Maximus will not be an old horse by staying chase standards, but he will be trying to produce another peak effort in one of the toughest races of the season. Even a small drop from his best could be enough to leave him short.
There is also the nature of the Grand National itself. No horse, however good, is fully in control of the race. Loose horses, traffic problems and jumping errors can change everything in seconds.
That is why Red Rum’s record is so hard to match.
What Would A Third Win Mean?
If I Am Maximus wins the 2027 Grand National, it would be one of the great modern racing stories.
It would not erase Red Rum. Nothing will. Red Rum’s place at Aintree is too deep for that. But it would mean that, for the first time since the 1970s, another horse had reached the same number of Grand National wins.
That would be huge.
It would put I Am Maximus in a place few horses ever get near. It would move him from outstanding modern winner to one of the defining Grand National horses of all time.
For Willie Mullins, it would add another layer to a record that already feels complete. For JP McManus, it would be another famous green and gold moment at Aintree. For racing fans, it would be a chance to say they had watched something that had not happened for 50 years.
Can I Am Maximus Equal Red Rum?
Yes, he can.
That does not mean he will. The Grand National is far too hard, too long and too unpredictable for that. But I Am Maximus has already done enough to make the question fair.
He has won the race twice. He has run well in it three times. He has the right trainer and owner behind him. Most of all, he has shown that Aintree brings out the best in him.
The 2027 Grand National will not just be about another big Saturday at Aintree. It will be about whether one horse can touch a record that has stood alone since Red Rum.
Only one horse has ever won three Grand Nationals.
I Am Maximus may be the next.
