Grand National History: Legendary Winners, Biggest Upsets and Key Milestones

The Grand National is not just a horse race. It is racing’s greatest story — a narrative that stretches back to 1839, has survived two world wars, absorbed scandals, celebrated heroes and produced moments of drama that no scriptwriter would dare invent. Other races are older. Other races are richer. But no other race has embedded itself in the national consciousness the way the Grand National has. It is a story told in hoofbeats, in broken hearts and in the roar of 70,000 people as the field clears Becher’s Brook for the second time.

This guide traces the arc of that story: from the first race at Aintree nearly two centuries ago, through the legendary horses that defined eras, to the upsets that remind everyone — every single year — that the Grand National answers to no one’s predictions.

From 1839 to Today: A Brief History of the Grand National

The first Grand National — or at least the first race generally recognised as such — took place at Aintree on 26 February 1839. The winner was a horse named Lottery, ridden by Jem Mason, and the race drew a crowd of spectators who had come to watch horses tackle a course that was, even by the rough standards of the era, extraordinarily demanding. In those early years, the fences were natural hedges and ditches, the field was loosely regulated, and the race was as much a test of survival as horsemanship.

Through the Victorian era and into the twentieth century, the Grand National grew into the pre-eminent steeplechase in the world. It survived suspension during both world wars — the course was requisitioned as a military site during the Second World War — and resumed each time with an enthusiasm that underlined its place in the national calendar. The post-war period saw the race consolidated into the fixture we recognise today: a handicap steeplechase over approximately four miles, run in early April, with a field drawn from the best staying chasers in Britain and Ireland.

The reach of the Grand National today is global. Around 800 million viewers in 170 countries watched the 2026 renewal, making it one of the most-watched horse races on earth. The betting turnover has grown in step with the audience — £250 million was staked on the 2026 race — and the Grand National’s position as the single biggest betting event of the year in the UK remains unchallenged. The race’s evolution from a Victorian spectacle to a twenty-first-century media and betting phenomenon is, in itself, one of the great stories in sport.

Key milestones along the way include the introduction of the handicapping system (which levels the field by allocating different weights to each horse), the repeated modifications to the fences (most recently the 2026 changes to Becher’s Brook and the reduction to 34 runners), and the evolution of the race’s relationship with television — from the BBC’s early broadcasts in the 1960s to ITV’s current coverage.

Legendary Winners: Red Rum, Tiger Roll and the Horses That Defined the Race

Red Rum is the Grand National’s greatest icon. Trained by Ginger McCain in stables behind a used-car showroom in Southport, Red Rum won the race three times — in 1973, 1974 and 1977 — and finished second in the two years in between. His third victory, at the age of twelve, produced one of the most famous moments in British sporting history: Peter O’Sullevan’s commentary (“It’s Red Rum! It’s Red Rum!”) accompanied scenes of unbridled joy as the horse galloped to a 25-length victory. Red Rum transcended racing. He became a national celebrity, opened supermarkets, appeared on television, and was mourned like a public figure when he died in 1995. No horse before or since has captured the public imagination in quite the same way.

Tiger Roll is the only horse to match Red Rum’s win record in the modern era, winning back-to-back Grand Nationals in 2018 and 2019. Trained by Gordon Elliott, Tiger Roll was a compact, tough horse who jumped the Aintree fences like they were hurdles — low, efficient and fast. His second victory, by a comfortable margin, prompted comparisons with Red Rum and cemented his place in racing history. A planned third consecutive attempt was thwarted by the COVID-19 pandemic (the 2020 race was cancelled) and a subsequent disagreement over his handicap mark, but Tiger Roll remains the defining Grand National horse of the twenty-first century.

Other names endure in the record books. Golden Miller (1934) is the only horse to win both the Gold Cup and the Grand National in the same year — a feat that speaks to the extraordinary versatility required. Aldaniti (1981) won under jockey Bob Champion, who had recovered from cancer, in a story that became a feature film. Many Clouds (2015) won carrying top weight, an achievement that grows more remarkable with each passing year.

What unites these legendary winners is not just talent — it is story. The Grand National, more than any other race, turns horses into characters. Red Rum’s humble origins, Tiger Roll’s refusal to be denied, Aldaniti’s partnership with a jockey who had been given months to live — these are narratives that transcend the sport and explain why the race endures in the public imagination when hundreds of other fixtures come and go unnoticed. Each winner adds a chapter to a story that the race itself keeps writing.

Biggest Upsets and Longest-Priced Winners in Grand National History

The Grand National’s defining quality is its capacity for shock. The large field, the extreme distance, the unique fences — they combine to produce results that make a mockery of the form book. The betting market knows this, which is why even the shortest-priced favourite in a Grand National is rarely shorter than 5/1 or 6/1. In most flat races, the favourite wins around a third of the time. In the Grand National, favourites have a far worse strike rate, and outsiders triumph with regularity.

Five horses share the record for the longest-priced winner in Grand National history, all winning at 100/1. Caughoo was the third to achieve it, winning at 100/1 in 1947 after being given little chance by the English betting public, despite arriving from Ireland in peak fitness while most English-trained horses had barely trained through a brutal winter freeze. Foinavon, another 100/1 winner in 1967, is perhaps the more famous upset: he won after a mass pile-up at the 23rd fence (now named after him) left every other horse either fallen, refusing or struggling to recover. Foinavon, so far behind the field that he avoided the carnage entirely, trotted through the chaos and won by 15 lengths.

More recently, Mon Mome won at 100/1 in 2009, and Nick Rockett took the 2026 race at 33/1 under Patrick Mullins, an amateur jockey riding for his father Willie. Nick Rockett’s victory was the latest in a long line of reminders that in the Grand National, anything can happen — and routinely does. Willie Mullins saddled five of the first seven finishers that day, an astonishing demonstration of training dominance, but the winner himself was not the stable’s most fancied runner.

For bettors, the message from history is simple. The Grand National rewards those who are willing to look beyond the obvious contenders. The favourite may well win — but the record shows that outsiders have as good a claim to the race as any market leader. That unpredictability is what has kept 800 million people watching, what has kept £250 million flowing into the betting ring, and what has kept the Grand National at the heart of racing’s greatest story for nearly two hundred years.