Willie Mullins says the temptation to line up in the Boodles Cheltenham Gold Cup with I Am Maximus will be resisted, in favour of a bid to retain his £1 million Randox Grand National crown at Aintree in April.

Only three staying chasers in Britain and Ireland are rated higher than the J.P. McManus-owned gelding after his seven and a half-length victory in the Grand National back in April.

But Mullins is eyeing the chance to make history with a horse he believes is ideally suited to the challenge of Aintree.

Mullins said on Wednesday: “After the Grand National last year, I said that I think I Am Maximus is a Gold Cup horse and I still do. But I think connections are much happier to go back for the Grand National and have another good go at it.

“Red Rum won the race three times and Tiger Roll won two. I think J.P. would be keen to have a horse that could do that - win two and maybe go on for a third one. If you don’t try you don’t succeed, so that is our plan.”

I Am Maximus was a second winner of the Grand National for Mullins, 19 years after the trainer won the famous race with Hedgehunter in 2005.

Sent off the 7/1 joint favourite in what turned out to be a thrilling edition of the four-and-a-quarter mile marathon, Paul Townend’s mount was only third approaching the Elbow on the run-in but stormed to a seven-and-a-half length victory over Delta Work.

I Am Maximus was subsequently raised to a handicap mark of 169 by British and Irish handicappers.

Mullins recalled: “I was lucky to have Hedgehunter and we felt at the time that it was fantastic but we would probably never win another one.

“Most trainers don’t - if they win one Grand National they are very lucky. So, it was a bit surreal to see him do what he did last year in the manner he did. You need so much luck to win a National. Everything has to go right all year and then everything has to go right in the race.

“I appreciate it. A plan came together, it doesn’t always work. To win the Grand National is every kid’s dream. For most of us it is a first instance of watching a race on TV, seeing the romance of it and the stories behind the race.

“When I started off racing if someone said to me, ‘which race do you want to win?’ it would be the Grand National. So, it has been a dream come true twice.”

'Typical Authorized'

Explaining why he feels I Am Maximus is ideally suited to the challenge of the Grand National, Mullins continued: “He is a typical Authorized, who have a lot of things going on in their mind other than racing.

“We thought if he went to Aintree the fences would grab his attention. That is exactly what happened - he loved it and the fences really made a man of him. The Aintree fences really caught his attention and he settled into being a proper racehorse.

“If there is nothing going on around the place he just gets up to mischief. That is what will suit him, going back there. Some horses love Aintree and I think he could be one of those.

“I think a lot of things point to a repeat and that’s why we are going back.”

Mullins is planning a similar route back to Aintree as he followed with I Am Maximus, the 2023 Irish National winner, as last season.

But he admitted: “I haven’t got a starting point for him yet. Last year he ran in the Savills Chase at Leopardstown and then the Irish Gold Cup and then the Bobbyjo Chase.

“I would imagine those three races will be his targets and then back to Aintree for another go at the National.

“In reality he will not have a lot more weight than last year when he carried 11st 6lb. It won’t be like a 10st 5lb horse going up to 11st 5lb.

“He is a strong horse who is still maturing. I was really delighted how he came back from a summer’s grass and how strong he looks. I think he could make that jump and carry the weight.

“Paul gave him a fantastic ride last season. He rode him so cold. Then when he asked him to go don’t think we have seen a horse do what he did at Aintree for years.

“We have to take what the handicapper gives us but when you look at what he did in the last half mile last year you have to hope he can rise to it.”

Title challenge

The first prize of just over half a million pounds that I Am Maximus won in the Grand National was instrumental in Mullins winning his first British jump trainers’ championship and he acknowledges the outcome of the race will probably be instrumental in his defence of the title in 2025 too.

His other potential contenders for the 2025 National on April 5th could include Macdermott, short-head winner of the Scottish National at Ayr in April, and Minella Cocooner, who was third in this year’s Irish National before winning the Sandown Gold Cup on the final day of the 2023-'24 season.

Referring to the boost the Aintree prize money gave to his title winning campaign, Mullins went on: “That was key to it. We knew we had a good chance going to Aintree but winning the National put us right in the mix. This guy did it for us and it was all to play for after that.

“We will be batting away like we were last year and hopefully he can come good again and we might have something else in the race. It is such a tough race to even be placed in but we will be doing our best.

“All those staying chase horses are on the list and we will be aiming them all at those type of races again and hopefully one of them can land.

“What we saw last season was that we have a nice team of staying chasers and if I Am Maximus doesn’t do it hopefully one of them can step up.”