Grand National: Every Top Weight for the Last Five Years and How They Fared

The Grand National is one of the most storied handicap races in the world, and studying the top weight can tell you plenty about how far the sport has come.

With Grand National odds already taking shape for the 2026 renewal at Aintree on April 11, I Am Maximus heads the weights for a second consecutive year, carrying 11st 12lb off an official rating of 168. But history is not on his side.

No horse has won the Grand National under top weight since Red Rum in 1974. Here is how every top weight has fared over the last five years.

2025: I Am Maximus — Finished 2nd

Willie Mullins’ superstar attempted to defend his 2024 crown carrying 11st 12lb, and his performance was nothing short of remarkable. Running under the joint-heaviest burden in the field, I Am Maximus chased home stablemate Nick Rockett and finished a close second. The fact that he could not quite get back to the winner’s enclosure while shouldering that weight is a testament to just how difficult the task is, but it also underlines what a formidable horse he is.

2024: Noble Yeats — Finished 19th

Noble Yeats arrived at Aintree as a former champion and one of the more popular horses in the race. Trained by Emmet Mullins and owned by Robert Waley-Cohen, he had won the 2022 renewal under Sam Waley-Cohen in one of the sport’s great fairytale moments. Carrying top weight in 2024, however, the race did not unfold kindly for him, and he finished 19th.

2023: Any Second Now — Pulled Up

Ted Walsh’s Any Second Now was one of the most consistent Grand National horses of recent years, finishing third in both 2021 and 2022 before being handed top weight in 2023. Carrying that burden over Aintree’s unique test proved too much on this occasion, and he was pulled up before the finish. It was a frustrating end for a horse whose record at the track had built considerable affection among fans. His top-weight allocation was a reflection of his quality, but the race simply did not go his way.

2022: Minella Times — Fell

Minella Times came into the 2022 race as the reigning champion, having won under Rachael Blackmore and trainer Henry de Bromhead in 2021 in a piece of racing history. Carrying top weight as the defending winner, his race ended in a fall, a brutal reminder of the unforgiving nature of Aintree. He was uninjured, but any realistic title defence was over at the first obstacle he came to grief at. The result added to the mounting evidence that top weights rarely, if ever, get the result their ability might suggest they deserve.

2021: Bristol De Mai — Pulled Up

Nigel Twiston-Davies’ Bristol De Mai was a high-class staying chaser whose big-race CV included multiple victories in the Betfair Chase at Haydock. Allocated top weight for the 2021 Grand National, he was unable to finish the race and was pulled up. His profile was that of a horse built for heavy ground and left-handed tracks, and Aintree’s unique demands simply did not suit him on the day. It proved to be one of the more straightforward cases of the handicapper correctly identifying the best horse, but the National having other ideas.