IF YOU are looking at contenders for the 2026 Aintree showpiece, three of the most compelling names in the field share a notable trait: they are all 10 years old. I Am Maximus, Grangeclare West, and Panic Attack arrive at this year’s race in excellent form and with strong claims for those looking to bet on Grand National, but history raises an interesting question. Is a decade-old horse still in prime Grand National territory?
What the history books say
The statistics paint a nuanced picture. 10-year-olds have won the Grand National on seven occasions, with Rough Quest (1996), Earth Summit (1998), Monty’s Pass (2003), Numbersixvalverde (2006), Silver Birch (2007), Don’t Push It (2010), and Ballabriggs (2011) all taking the prize at that age.
However, recent trends tell a different story. 10 of the last 11 winners have been aged between seven and nine, and the average winning age has been steadily declining. In the last decade, the average has fallen to just 9.3 years old, compared to 10.1 in the decade before it.
Part of that shift is structural: the fences have been modified, and the field has been reduced, making the race slightly more accessible to younger, less battle-hardened horses. Against that backdrop, our three 10-year-old contenders are swimming against a historical tide. But their individual profiles suggest they are no ordinary representatives of their age group.
I Am Maximus
No horse in this year’s field makes a stronger case for defying age trends than I Am Maximus. The Willie Mullins-trained gelding won the Grand National in 2024 under Paul Townend and produced one of the great modern Aintree performances to finish second carrying top weight of 11st 12lb in 2025, going down only to stablemate Nick Rockett.
For the second year in a row, he heads the weights on the same 11st 12lb off an official rating of 168. The BHA handicapper has described what he achieved in defeat last year as one of the great modern Grand National performances, comparable to Tiger Roll’s second win in 2019.
If Townend and I Am Maximus can go one better this spring, it would almost certainly represent the highest-rated Grand National winner in the modern era. No horse has won the race under top weight since Red Rum in 1974. Both barriers, age and weight, look formidable on paper. His class and Aintree record suggest he is the most likely horse in the field to break them.
Grangeclare West
A horse that is significantly more fancied in 2026 than he was 12 months ago, Grangeclare West finished third in last year’s National at 33/1 under Brian Hayes and has gone from strength to strength since. Trained by Mullins and owned by Cheveley Park Stud, he won the Bobbyjo Chase at Fairyhouse in February, although Townend took that ride with Hayes expected to reclaim the saddle at Aintree.
At a current price of around 12/1, he sits firmly among the leading contenders and represents a more straightforward weight assignment than I Am Maximus. The argument for him is simple: he has already demonstrated that he loves the National fences, stays the trip well, and is running into form at exactly the right time. A horse improving into his 10th year is far from unheard of, and Grangeclare West looks like precisely that type.
Panic Attack
The most intriguing of the three from a statistical standpoint, Panic Attack is a 10-year-old mare trained by Dan Skelton who has been virtually unbeatable this season. She won the Paddy Power Gold Cup at Cheltenham and the Coral Gold Cup at Newbury, and Timeform’s weight-adjusted figures actually place her at the head of the Grand National field. Harry Skelton has ridden her with quiet authority throughout, and the partnership looks tailored for the test.
She faces her own set of historical obstacles beyond age. It is now 75 years since the last mare won the Grand National, with Nickel Coin claiming the prize in 1951. No mare has even finished in the frame in the past 30 years. The Skeltons, however, are a partnership defined by doing things their own way, and Panic Attack’s unbeaten record over fences since joining the yard speaks for itself.
The verdict
History is not on the side of any of these three, but the quality of each horse is hard to argue with. Of the three, I Am Maximus has the most compelling Aintree credentials, Grangeclare West offers the most straightforward each-way appeal, and Panic Attack is perhaps the wildcard whose current form makes her impossible to dismiss. If a 10-year-old is to win the Grand National for the first time since Ballabriggs in 2011, this looks like the year it could happen.
Article written by Charlie Reynolds
