Racing

The best Grand National winners in recent years

The 2022 Grand National is finally here, and at Aintree on Saturday, 40 horses and jockeys will head to post for one of the most famous horse races in the world.

Some top-quality horses have won the Grand National over the years, with Red Rum being the most famous, having won the race three times.

But there have also been some impressive winners of the race in recent years, and we’ve taken a look back at some of the best below.

 

Don’t Push It (2010)

Don’t Push It arrived at Aintree having won at the Grand National meeting the year before, and connections were confident of a positive showing.

 

Onboard in 2010 was Tony McCoy, undoubtedly the best jumps racing jockey but who was still seeking a first win in the Grand National after 15 attempts.

But it was 16th time lucky for McCoy as he guided Don’t Push It to an impressive success.

Taking up the lead two fences from home, they powered clear to win by five lengths at odds of 10/1.

 

Many Clouds (2015)

Many Clouds was sent off at 25/1 for the 2015 Grand National, but he put in a fantastic weight-carrying performance to win the race off 11st 9lb.

He headed to the big race on the back of a 6th place showing in the Cheltenham Gold Cup but had won his three previous races that season, including a Listed success, a Grade 3 success, and a Grade 2 success.

With the Grand National less than a month after the Cheltenham Festival, there were concerns that the race would have come too soon for Many Clouds, but he dug deep under jockey Leighton Aspell.

Many Clouds also gave owner Sir Trevor Hemmings his third win in the race, following on from Hedgehunter in 2005 and Ballabriggs in 2011.

Tiger Roll (2018)

Being a three-time Cheltenham Festival winner, Tiger Roll was a strong fancy for the Grand National in 2018 for owner Michael O’Leary, who also owns the airline Ryanair.

Tiger Roll had won the Cross Country Chase at Cheltenham the month before, and a bold bid was expected at Aintree.

Partnered by Davy Russell and trained by Gordon Elliott, Tiger Roll looked a natural over the Grand National fences, putting in a perfect round of jumping.

Reaching the Elbow, Tiger Roll was six lengths clear, but he slowed approaching the winning line and just held on by a head to win the race from the fast-finishing Pleasant Company.

And little did we know that the best was yet to come from Tiger Roll.

Tiger Roll (2019)

And of course, Tiger Roll became the first horse since the legendary Red Rum to win back to back Grand Nationals when winning the race in 2019.

He headed to Aintree on the back of victory in the Cross Country Chase at the Cheltenham

Festival, and he was eventually sent off for the National as the 4/1 favourite – one of the shortest ever priced runners in the race.

Tiger Roll made a bad mistake at the 25th fence, but Davy Russell allowed him to recover before the pair took the lead between the final two fences.

And there was no stopping them up the run-in as they took the victory by almost three lengths to spark jubilation amongst the crowd.

Sadly, the 2020 Grand National was cancelled due to COVID, so Tiger Roll was denied his chance of equalling Red Rum’s record of three victories in the race.