While never easy to predict with 100% accuracy, the Cheltenham Festival can be relied upon to provide at least one of two things: a stack of winners trained by Willie Mullins and a stack of winners owned by JP McManus.
True to form, both Irishmen were frequent visitors to the winners’ enclosure at the 2026 edition of the March meeting. Willie Mullins topped the trainers’ table with eight victories, taking his lifetime Cheltenham Festival tally to 121. McManus, meanwhile, ended the week with four wins, as he finished as the meeting’s leading owner for the thirteenth time since 2011.
Aintree Up Next with Record in Sight
With the Cheltenham Festival in the books for another year, focus now switches to Merseyside for the Randox Grand National Festival. Kicking off on Thursday, 9th April and concluding on Saturday, 11th April, this three-day card from Aintree is home to the most famous jumps race in the world.
Offering a cool £1 million in prize money and a prominent place in the history books, the Aintree Grand National features high on the wish list of many owners. While many try in vain to win Britain’s biggest betting race, JP McManus has savoured that winning feeling on three occasions.
Following the success of Don’t Push It (2010), Minella Times (2021), and I Am Maximus (2024), McManus sits in a six-way tie at the top of the all-time owners’ table in the Grand National. One more win will see him move ahead of the eclectic quintet, James Octavius Machell, Sir Charles Assheton-Smith, Noel Le Mare, Trevor Hemmings, and Gigginstown House Stud, to claim top spot. A mere glance at the current Grand National betting suggests he has every chance of doing just that, with four of the first five in the market set to carry the green and gold.
I Am Maximus
At the top of the weights and topping the market with a few bookmakers is the 2024 champ, I Am Maximus, who represents the feared Mullins/McManus combo.
The manner in which he sprinted from the elbow two years ago suggested he had a fair bit in hand off a mark of 159, and he again ran a cracker to finish second to Nick Rocket off 167 when defending his crown in 2025. Warming up for his third attempt with a trio of efforts in Grade 1 company, including a fine second in the Savills Chase, a mark of 168 gives him every chance of being involved in the finish.
Iroko
The top four from 2025 occupy four of the first eight positions in the betting, including this Oliver Greenall and Josh Guerriero contender who stayed on well for fourth 12 months ago. Going down by seven and a half lengths that day, he’s five pounds higher here, which makes life tough on paper. However, he stayed on as well as anything from the back of the last and may well have finished closer but for a couple of small jumping errors. Looking as well as ever when winning the Howden Graduation Chase at Ascot in December, he then disappointed in the Ultima Handicap Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. A dirty scope on the day after the race goes some way to explaining that effort, and he represents one of the best chances of a British success.
Jagwar
Also hailing from the Oldcastle operation of Greenall and Guerriero, Jagwar has long been hailed as one of the most naturally talented horses in the yard. Having struggled to live up to the hype over hurdles, he is beginning to justify that lofty opinion over fences. Successful in four of eight chase outings, he has yet to finish outside of the first three over the larger obstacles.
He had his yard’s name up lights when winning the Trustatrader Plate Handicap Chase at the 2025 Cheltenham Festival and narrowly missed out on following up in 2026, when second in the Ultima Handicap Chase. An imposing sort, he has the size to cope with the National fences but can be prone to the odd error. That said, the Ultima often proves to be a good trial for the Aintree showpiece, and a Grand National mark of 152 is five pounds below his official rating.
Johnnywho
Rounding out the well-fancied McManus quartet is the horse who finished half a length in front of Jagwar in the Ultima Handicap Chase. That victory went some way towards atoning for his runners-up finish in the 2025 Kim Muir Challenge Cup at the Festival. He looked set to cruise home that day, only to lose out by a neck following a sticky jump at the last.
Unlike Jagwar, Johnnywho isn’t the biggest of horses, but boasts fair form in this type of race, having finished fifth in the 2025 Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse. Another who is well in at the weights, his Grand National mark of 146 is 6lb below his official chase rating.
The McManus challenge doesn’t end there. Looking further down the list, we find Oscars Brother, who has won three of his last four starts and will bid to record a famous success for two-horse trainer, Connor King. Spillane’s Tower may also tackle this assignment, having skipped the Cheltenham Gold Cup on account of the ground. The Grade 1 winning eight-year-old represents James Joseph Mangan, who won the 2003 Grand National with Monty’s Pass.