• Tipperary Tim – 100/1. One of the top underdogs in the history of the Grand National can also claim.
• The good news for the bookies is that no horse has ever won the Grand National with odds of longer than 100/1. That might change at some point in the future, of course, but it’s unlikely. Something to bear in mind if you tend to opt for the betting tactic of picking one short odds horse, one with middling odds and one outsider.
• Whether you back a horse because of its Grand National odds, the colour of the jockey’s silks, or because of the horse’s name, everyone has a chance of betting on the winner of the historic race. Look around these pages to get the lowdown on the Grand National Runners and riders, to get Grand National Free Bets, or to get the best Timeform.
• The 1961 Grand National was the 115th renewal of the world-famous Grand National horse race that took place at Aintree Racecourse near Liverpool, England, on 25 March 1961.

• Horse That Won Grand National Twice
• Horse Winners Grand National Finals
• Horse Winners Grand National Dog Show

The Grand National is perhaps the biggest and most famous horse race in the world. It attracts a global TV audience of around 500m and provides around nine minutes of thrilling entertainment and it is a spectacle like no other.

The huge field, the 30 fences (that remain testing despite modifications to improve safety), mammoth distance of more than four miles and two furlongs, and the often tricky going means that this race is perhaps harder to win than any other. Throw in a sapping and seemingly never ending run-in of almost 500 yards and it is clear that it takes a very special horse to triumph in this contest.

It is the most lucrative jumps race in Europe, with winning connections in 2019 taking home more than £560,000. This attracts a high class field and with 40 horses typically going to post, picking the winner is almost as tricky as actually winning the race. The first horse to ever claim glory in this uniquely gruelling contest was named Lottery and many feel that is hugely apposite given the seemingly random nature of predicting the winner.

Before 2016, Michael's only previous experience of the National was a hollow one - seven years ago his Irish National winner Hear The Echo collapsed near the Aintree finish and later died.

The questions is, has a horse ever managed to win the Grand National on more than one occasion? Can lightning strike twice and enable the same horse to somehow emerge unscathed through two laps of Aintree and cross the finishing post before the other 39 valiant contenders on more than one occasion?

Horses That Have Won the Grand National More Than Once (Since 1839)

Well, to answer the titular question of this article quite simply: yes, there are horses that have tasted victory in Aintree’s showpiece more than once. Before we list all of the official multiple winners, it is worth noting that whilst Lottery is the first horse to win the Grand National proper, in 1839, there were races that took place prior to that which held, for a time at least, the same moniker.

Somewhat confusingly, that name was not the Grand National but the Grand Liverpool Steeplechase. The race we know as the Grand National was not called that until 1849 and it is believed that at some time within the next 25 years the pre-1839 versions of the Grand Liverpool Steeplechase were effectively stripped of their status as “Grand Nationals”, for reasons that history has neglected to make completely clear.

Anyway, the reason we are talking about this confusing nomenclature is that before Lottery wrote his name in the National’s record books, we arguably had our first two-time winner of the race. The Duke won in 1836 and 1837, ridden by a certain Martin William Becher, Becher being both instrumental in establishing the race and also subsequently having one of its most famous obstacles named in his honour (Becher’s Brook, obstacle six and 22 in the current National layout).

Whether we choose to count The Duke or not, there are a number of other horses who have officially won the Grand National more than once:

So, as we can see, there have been seven horses, excluding The Duke, who have managed to defy the odds to win this incredibly difficult race more than once. Let’s look a little more closely at some of their stories.

Red Rum: 1973, 1974 & 1977

Red Rum is undoubtedly the greatest horse in the history of the Grand National and that isn’t just because he is the only horse to win it three times. Red Rum was a horse the public adored and he was trained by Ginger McCain, one of the truly great trainers in National Hunt history, who also saddled Amberleigh House, the 2004 winner. Red Rum’s victories really captured the public’s imagination and his enduring success in this race made fans come to view him almost like part of the family.

Horse That Won Grand National Twice

Many of Red Rum’s career stats are hard to believe and one of the most impressive is the fact that he never fell in 100 races. The fact he even contested 100 races is mightily impressive, especially considering the gruelling contests in which he typically took part. But there is no escaping the fact that it was his performances in the Grand National that really make him stand out and not just his record three victories. His full record in the world’s greatest steeplechase reads:

• 1st in 1973 – comes from 30 lengths down to win in a new record time
• 1st in 1974 – wins carrying 12st
• 2nd in 1975 – beaten favourite as L’Escargot wins by 15 lengths
• 2nd in 1976 – McCain stated many years after the race that jockey Tommy Stack made a tactical error that may have cost Red Rum the race (to Rag Trade)
• 1st in 1977 – won at the age of 12 carrying top weight

If the Grand National is a lottery then Red Rum must have been the luckiest horse to ever stride around a racecourse. Of course, the alternative view is that a horse with three wins and two seconds to his name in this particular race is quite simply the greatest Grand National horse we have ever seen and that we are likely to ever see.

Many consider his coming-from-behind victory in 1973 as one of the greatest performances ever in the race. His third win, when the public more or less willed him over the line, was voted the 22nd best sporting moment in UK history in 2002 (although some would question the merit of a poll that voted beating Germany 5-1 in a World Cup qualifying game ahead of beating them in a World Cup final!).

Tiger Roll: 2018 & 2019

The obvious horse to look at next is Tiger Roll, winner of the Grand National in 2019 and 2018 and bidding for the hat-trick in 2020. No horse has ever won three in a row but this mightily impressive Irish gelding is a clear favourite in the ante post betting.

A son of Authorised, he is well bred and with Gordon Elliott training him for Gigginstown House Stud, and Davy Russell his jockey for the Grand National, he has everything in his favour. Well, almost everything. Tiger Roll was given joint top weight for the 2020 race and owner Michael O’Leary had previously stated that he was very unlikely to enter his horse if the handicapper treated him in such a way.

Tiger Roll is a marvellous horse but the 2020 Grand National is going to be one of the classiest ever, with BHA handicapper Martin Greenwood saying “The race is full of top-class individuals and boasts the winners of races such as the Grand National, Irish National, Welsh National, Rowland Meyrick Chase, Cheltenham Gold Cup and much more. It is as good a staying handicap as would be run anywhere. You could argue that it is the highest quality Grand National in modern history.”

In November, prior to the weights being announced, O’Leary said, “I know it makes for a great story, that it would be wonderful if he won three Grand Nationals in a row, but wouldn’t it be terrible if he died lumping a huge weight around Aintree? I care more about looking after the horse and I am not killing him. I’m not soft and accept it happens, but I have a wife and children who are in love with this horse and I am not risking him to lump a humongous weight.”

The current plan is for the 10 year old to head to the Cheltenham Festival to try and win the Cross Country Chase, just as he did in 2018 and 2019. O’Leary initially said that he may well retire if he completes that particular hat-trick but Tiger Roll is just so impressive that the pull of going for the Aintree hat-trick was always likely to prove too strong.

That seems to be the case now, with Michael’s brother Eddie O’Leary recently saying, “We still feel he’s on a very unfair handicap mark but so be it. It’s unfair to deny him a chance to go for history. If he comes through Navan and Cheltenham and all’s well, then we’ll run.” He finished a very solid fifth at Navan following a 316 day break, so on to the Festival he heads!

The way in which Tiger Roll has won many of his races suggests he could well land the hat-trick. He seemed to float round both Cheltenham and Aintree and never at any stage looked in danger of either clipping a fence, getting into trouble or coming into contact with another horse. That’s a remarkable feat given the nature of the Cross Country and the National and, in common with Red Rum, Tiger Roll has never fallen.

No matter what happens in April 2020, Tiger Roll’s place in Grand National history is assured. He won at 10/1 in 2018 and as the stonking 4/1 favourite last year. Currently priced at around the 5/1 mark, despite the 11-10 weight he’ll be saddled with, he may well be backed in to 4/1. Can he thrill punters once again and make history? Time will tell…

Manifesto: 1897 & 1899

Manifesto landed the Grand National in 1897 and 1899 so it is safe to say that nobody alive today has seen him race. There are very few beyond hard core racing fans who would have ever even heard of him but this dual winner is well worth a closer look.

Things didn’t start too well for the attractive bay as he fell in his first race in 1892 but he made steady improvements and as a seven year old entered the 1895 Grand National. He finished a very credible fourth, behind winner Wild Man Of Borneo, but didn’t fair quite as well 12 months on when falling at the very first race.

Undeterred, connections changed trainer and sent him to the 1897 race where he was sent off with 11-3 on his back but as the 6/1 favourite. He delivered the goods, beating Filbert by a huge 20 lengths to land his first Grand National.

A year later injury forced him to miss the chance to defend his crown but in 1899, despite giving at least a whole stone to the entire field, he won once again. That victory was a remarkable achievement and, with 12 and a half stone to lump around Aintree, arguably is up there with anything Red Rum, or any other horse, managed in this unique race. Sent off at 5/1 he won by a commanding five lengths despite some hairy moments along the way.

The new millennium saw Manifesto return to Aintree, once again carrying top weight as he bid to become the first ever horse to win the race thrice. At the age of 12 his burden proved too much but he finished third, with just Barsac and winner Ambush II ahead of him.

He missed the race the next year but came back in 1902 at the age of 14, once again carrying a huge weight. Once again he defied that and his advancing years to finish third, an achievement even more impressive considering the heavy ground and the two and a half stones conceded to winner Shannon Lass.

Do you think this section on Manifesto is ever going to end? Like the horse, it keeps going. He finished third yet again in 1903 and, amazingly, returned in 1904 at the ripe old age of 16. Once again he was forced to carry more than 12 stone, which seems strange, but he got round and finished eighth in his last ever Grand National.

His record of eight Grand Nationals is one that may never be bettered, with two wins, three thirds and a fourth also an incredible achievement. Red Rum and, if he lands the hat-trick, Tiger Roll, are likely to be the horses most remembered, but Manifesto may well be the best of them all.

Known as the world’s greatest steeplechase, the Grand National is popular with both horse racing lovers and those that only watch this one race every year. The incredibly difficult jumps combined with the length of the race makes it a thrilling watch, with horses likely to fall at any moment. The proof of that lies in Foinavon’s win in 1967, running so far behind the rest of the field that he avoided a mass pile-up and won the race.

Horse Winners Grand National Finals

Had you been one of the horse’s backers that year then you’d have been paid out at odds of 100/1, with punters ever since having a ‘cheeky’ bet on a horse with outside chances simply on the off chance that something as dramatic happens at Aintree Racecourse. Whilst it’s rare for such an incredibly unlikely thing to take place, bettors still enjoy the possibility of an outsider winning and, along with the favourites doing so, it’s happened more than once.

The Longest Odds Winners

Where else to start but with the winners of the race that have had the longest odds? It is, after all, the most exciting aspect of horse racing and the one that non-racing lovers tend to watch the Grand National for. Here we’ll have a look at the five horses with the longest odds to win the race, all 100/1, collating the information into a table and then having a brief look at each event in more detail to see if we can spot any sort of pattern.

100/1 Grand National Winners

The good news for the bookies is that no horse has ever won the Grand National with odds of longer than 100/1. That might change at some point in the future, of course, but it’s unlikely. Something to bear in mind if you tend to opt for the betting tactic of picking one short odds horse, one with middling odds and one outsider. If they are that outside of the expected running that they’re over 100/1 then you might want to look elsewhere.

Whilst we can’t learn much from the ages of the horses that won the race as 100/1 outsiders, given that they differ across the board, perhaps the overall story of their winning race can tell us a little bit more about what we want to know. Are there any similarities in what happened during the race, or was it just a matter of the bookmakers getting their odds wrong in most instances? Certainly the looked to learn their lesson after 100/1 winners in both 1928 and 1929…

1928 – Tipperary Tim

Prior to 1928, there had been a number of outsiders that had won the race. Many of them had strange odds, though, such as Lutteur III, who won 1909 at odds of 100/9. Tipperary Tim was the first horse to give the bookies a genuine spanking, though. The Going was Heavy and mist had descended upon Aintree Racecourse during the day, which understandably led to some difficulties in jumping the fences.

Before the race a friend of Tipperary Tim’s amateur jockey, William Dutton, reportedly told him that he’d only win if all of the other horses failed. Little did the friend realise just how prophetic that shout would be. On the first time around the course, Easter Hero fell at the Canal Turn and a mass pile-up ensued. Only seven horses emerged from that with their jockeys still riding, which eventually dropped further until Tipperary Tim was the only one standing.

1929 – Gregalach

Whilst it makes the list here because of the 100/1 outsider that ended up winning the race, the 1929 renewal of the Grand National also made the record books for boasting the largest ever field to run in the event. Sixty-six horses went under starter’s orders, which has never been beaten. In truth, nothing quite as dramatic as the previous year happened this time around, though a vast majority of the horses did fall at some point during the race.

Indeed, the press was full of criticism after the fact because, they claimed, the nature of the Grand National meant that poor horses would often be entered into it. With nine horses finishing the race, however, there wasn’t the same issue as there’d been in 1928. The press’s argument also fell short on account of the fact that the winner had odds of 100/1, fourth place was 200/1 and so were to of the other horses that managed to make it all the way home.

1947 – Caughoo

Interestingly, fifty-seven horses started the Grand National in 1947, which was the largest field since the record was set in 1929. All of them returned to the stables safely after the race, suggesting that it was another one without any major drama. Eight-year-old Caughoo ended up winning the event, finishing twenty lengths in front of second-placed Lough Conn. The Irish horse was a firm outsider, ridden by Eddie Dempsey and tried by Herbert McDowell.

The other interesting thing about the 1947 renewal of the Grand National was that three of the first four horses home were from Ireland. Lough Conn had odds of 33/1, which was the same odds given to the French horse, Kami, that finished third. Prince Regent was the best-priced of them all with odds of 8/1 but could only come in fourth. Given that they all had similar weights apart from Prince Regent, it looks like this was just a case of the handicapper getting it wrong.

1967 – Foinavon

The victory for Foinavon in 1967 remains one of the most talked about in Grand National history. It’s unusual that a horse would win the race because they weren’t very fast, but that’s exactly what happened here. Foinavon was nowhere near the leaders as they approached the twenty-third fence. Having unseated his rider at the first, many felt that Popham Down should have been pulled up by then but the fact that he wasn’t led to one of the race’s greatest moments.

The loose horse veered at the fence, causing a huge pile-up and unseating countless horses. Foinavon was so far behind the pack that the horse’s jockey was able to steer him through the melee, emerging free from everyone and with a thirty length lead. It shows just how unfancied he was that he ended up winning by half that amount. Even so, a win is a win and John Buckingham’s riding of the 100/1 outsider is to be admired.

Mon Mome – 2009

At the time of writing, Mon Mome is the most recent horses to win the race with such outrageously long odds. The French-bred horse was ridden by the late Liam Treadwell and beat the 2008 winner, Comply Or Die, by twelve lengths. Trained by Venetia Williams, Mon Mome was the first French horse to win the race in one hundred years, which perhaps helps to explain why the bookmakers got their odds so completely wrong for the horse.

In the end, seventeen horses managed to complete the race. My Will had been made the favourite after coming fifth in the Cheltenham Gold Cup, eventually going off joint-favourite and with Ruby Walsh in the saddle. It was Comply Or Die who gave the toughest chase, though, and the he and Mon Mome jumped the last together. Mon Mome had the better legs, however, and won at odds of 100/1. It was another race in which the bookies just seemed to get it wrong.

Other Big Priced Grand National Winners

Were you to back a horse in the Grand National with odds of 66/1 then you’d be absolutely delighted to see it cross the finish line in first place. When it comes to the winners with the longest odds, though, the likes of Auroras Encore, who achieved exactly that in 2013, doesn’t even come close to the 100/1 mark but a very impressive return nonetheless. Likewise Ayala in 1963 and Russian Hero in 1949, who both won with the same odds, as well as 50/1 Last Suspect in 1985.

Incidentally, the first 33/1 winner came in 2001 when Red Marauder won for Norman Mason and Richard Guest with a further three winners at those odds in quick succession in 2007, 2012 and 2016.

33/1 to 66/1 Grand National Winners

Horse Winners Grand National Dog Show

The Shortest Odds Winners

Looking at the races involving horses that won with long odds, it’s fair to say that there’s not a lot that we can learn from them. The horses were different ages, carried different weights and what happened in the race differed from year to year. Unless you believe in the coincidence of two of the races take place in the seventh year of the decade or you feel like you’ll be able to predict a mass pile-up causing half of the horses to fall, it’s unlikely you’ll predict an outsider winning.

Of course, the bookmakers actively prefer it when a horse with long odds win a race. It might seem counter-intuitive, but horses with odds as long as 100/1 will only have a limited number of people betting on them and even then they’ll almost certainly be wagering small stakes. The same is not true for the favourites, which will have large amounts people betting both big and small stakes on them and therefore causing the bookies much more pain with victory.

Here’s a look at the five horses with the shortest odds that came out on top at Aintree Racecourse over the years:

Grand National Winners Under 4/1

The first thing that you’ll notice is that all of the horses in the above table, with the exception of Poethlyn, won the race during the nineteenth century. That isn’t overly helpful to modern day bettors, who will surely want more of a clue about what to look out for when placing bets in the twenty-first century. For that reason, we’ll show you another table here of horses that have won with short odds from 2000 onwards.

Shortest Priced Grand National Winners – 2000 to 2019

Tiger Roll is obviously the odd one out on the list, not only because he won it in consecutive years, becoming the first horse since Red Rum to do so, but also because he is the only horse to win with short odds that did so as an eight-year-old. The rest of the horses were nine when they won, which gives you some insight into what to look out for when you’re coming to place your bets. If you want to wager on a horse with short odds, make sure that they’re nine or older.

It’s fair to say that most of the shortest odds winners have a far less interesting story to tell then when it comes to the outsiders who romped home surprisingly. Even so, there’s always a tale to tell for the Grand National and these races are no exception. Here’s a look at each of them:

Tiger Roll – 2019

When Tiger Roll returned to Aintree Racecourse in 2019 he did so as the defending champion of the Grand National. It’s little surprise that he started the race as the favourite, with many believing that he had what it takes to finally join Red Rum as a horse that had won consecutive races on the Liverpool course. One hundred and twelve horses were originally entered before being whittled down to forty, with Tiger Roll coming from the back to win under Davy Russell.

Hedgehunter – 2005

Nine-year-old Hedgehunter was the 7/1 favourite for the race, not least of all because he was being ridden by Ruby Walsh and under the traineeship of Willie Mullins. The race itself was notable thanks to a twenty-five minute delay, which was put in place in order to avoid it clashing with the wedding of Prince Charles and Camilla Parker Bowles. More than half of the horses finished the race, with Hedgehunter finishing fourteen lengths clear of Royal Auclair in second.

Comply Or Die – 2008

Comply Or Die went off as the joint favourite in the race, joined at odds of 7/1 by Cloudy Lane. He repeated the trick of Hedgehunter in being a favourite that won the race; something that wouldn’t happen again at Aintree until Tiger Roll in 2019. When Comply Or Die crossed the finish line he did so just four lengths clear of King John’s Castle, making it a truly thrilling final few moments of the World’s Greatest Steeplechase.

Papillon – 2000

Papillon won the one hundred and fifty-third renewal of the Grand National in the millennial year. He did so with a time of nine minutes and nine point seven seconds, doing so with even more excitement than Comply Or Die would manage eight years later on account of only being one and a half lengths clear of Mely Moss. It was a win for Ruby Walsh, who took the 10/1 horse over the finish line in typical style.

Tiger Roll – 2018

Tiger Roll might well have gone off as the favourite when he returned to Aintree the year after winning it, but when Davy Russell rode him across the finish line in 2018 he did so as a 10/1 runner. It was arguably the most exciting race of all of those run by the shortest priced winners, given that Tiger Roll only won courtesy of a photo finish with Pleasant Company. It was another race at Aintree in which all runners returned home safely.