Can Nick Rockett win back-to-back Grand Nationals?
Nick Rockett won the Grand National at Aintree last April as a 33-1 outsider, and for anyone who follows Grand National betting, it was one of the most unlikely results the race has seen in years.
Ridden by amateur jockey Patrick Mullins and trained by his father Willie, he jumped well throughout, led over the last fence, and beat the defending champion I Am Maximus by two and a half lengths. It was a brilliant performance, but now the debate is whether he can back it up on 11 April 2026.
Only legends have managed it before
Only five horses in the entire history of the Grand National have won it in back-to-back years: Abd-El-Kader in 1850 and 1851, The Colonel in 1869 and 1870, Reynoldstown in 1935 and 1936, Red Rum in 1973 and 1974, and Tiger Roll in 2018 and 2019.
Red Rum then came back to win a third time in 1977, finishing second in both years in between, which puts him in a category of his own entirely. Tiger Roll broke a 44-year wait for consecutive winners and did it as the 4/1 favourite carrying six pounds more than the year before, winning comfortably.
I Am Maximus’ redemption
I Am Maximus won the race in 2024 and was denied a back-to-back win of his own by Nick Rockett last year, finishing two and a half lengths back in second. He is currently the second favourite for 2026 at shorter odds than the defending champion, seeking redemption and the chance to become just the ninth horse in history to win the Grand National twice.
Why Nick Rockett can do it
Nick Rockett did not win last year by luck. He jumped well throughout, travelled strongly under Patrick Mullins, and won with something to spare. In the build-up to the race, he had won both the Thyestes Chase and the Bobbyjo Chase in Ireland, arriving at Aintree in the form of his life. Willie Mullins has won the Grand National three times now, and nobody prepares a horse for this race better.
It is worth noting that Nick Rockett opened as one of the early co-favourites for the 2026 race immediately after his Aintree win, but he has since drifted out to seventh in the market, and the reason for that drift tells you everything you need to know about his current situation.
The weight he carries in 2026 is the biggest problem. Nick Rockett has been allocated 11st 11lb, which is three pounds more than he carried when he won last year, and the history books are brutal on this point: 25 of the last 32 Grand National winners carried 10st 13lb or less. The handicapper's job is to make it harder for good horses to win again, and he has done exactly that here.
More worrying still is the fact that Nick Rockett has not run a single race of the 2025/26 season, having picked up niggles that ruled him out of the John Durkan Chase in November and kept him away through the festive period.
The verdict
Nick Rockett is trained by the best in the business and showed last year that he has the class and ability to win the Grand National. But the weight rise, the lack of a prep run, and the depth of the 2026 field all make a repeat harder than the heart wants to admit. History says back-to-back winners need everything to fall right, and right now, not everything is falling right for him.
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