What is the biggest priced outsider to win the Grand National?

Perhaps the first thing to say about the Grand National is that rank outsiders win less often than you might think. Since the first ‘official’ running in 1839, the world famous steeplechase has been staged a total of 175 times as of early April 2024, yet just 14 winners have been returned at starting prices of 50/1 or greater. For the record, the five 50/1 winners of the National were Forbra (1932), Sheila’s Cottage (1958), Anglo (1966) Last Suspect (1985),  and recently Noble Yeats (2022) while the four 66/1 winners were Rubio (1908), Russian Hero (1949), Ayala (1963) and Auroras Encore (2013).

However, as far as the biggest priced outsider to win the Grand National is concerned, five horses share the distinction of being returned at odds of 100/1. They were, in chronological order Tipperary Tim (1928), Gregalach (1929), Caughoo (1947), Foinavon (1967) and Mon Mome (2009). In the cases of Tipperary Tim, Caughoo and, probably most famously of all, Foinavon, huge fields, atrocious conditions and freak sets of events contributed to their unlikely victories. Gregalach, though, beat 65 rivals – including, ironically, favourite Easter Hero, who had caused a pile-up at the Canal Turn the previous year – fair and square in the 1929 renewal, and Mon Mome, who had started favourite for the Coral Welsh National the previous December, likewise needed no external help in 2009.