Home By The Lee is the current staying king - but I've got eyes on this 12-1 shot to dethrone him next year

I Am Maximus was a brilliant winner of Saturday’s Randox Grand National, epitomising the skillset a horse requires to win the modern-day version of the race.

For large parts of the race, I was pretty happy with the 25-1 on Iroko that was advised in this column following last year’s edition. But he just lacks the turn of foot possessed by I Am Maximus, which is a more necessary weapon these days than when the National was a more gruelling test.

The question now is whether I Am Maximus will still be as quick next year at the age of 11. There were three winners of that age in a row from 2012 to 2014, but recent history suggests you would ideally want younger horses on your side now, such as the Irish Grand National winner Soldier In Milan, who shares 2027 favouritism with I Am Maximus at 16-1.