Tiger Roll could miss National hat-trick bid

Two-time Grand National winner Tiger Roll is among the entries for the Aintree showpiece but connections say he may not compete.

Tiger Roll won the 2018 and 2019 editions of the race and was denied a bid at a treble last year as the race was cancelled due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic.

The 11-year-old was last seen over the cross-country fences at Cheltenham in November but he was pulled up in what was a disappointing performance.

The Gordon Elliott-trained four-time Cheltenham Festival winner is among the 106 entries for this year’s Grand National on April 10, but racing manager for owners Gigginstown House Stud Eddie O’Leary says connections are unhappy with his rating and as such Tiger Roll may be retired before the Aintree event.

“Touch wood, he’ll go for the Boyne Hurdle at Navan (February 21) next and then it will be the cross-country chase at Cheltenham,” said O’Leary, as reported by Sky Sports.

“I think the November run was just one of those days. We didn’t expect him to win or anything, but we didn’t think he’d run that bad. There was no reason for it, maybe he had a headache, I couldn’t tell you.

“With regards to the National, he’s still got a crazy weight. For some unknown reason he has this crazy rating, but he didn’t even appear in the end-of-season classifications last year, yet he’s got this rating of 168.

“When I queried it, I was told that was because it was a cross-country rating. Tiger Roll was beaten 17 lengths by Easysland off level weights [in March].

“I’ve always said 168 is crazy and there’s no point in running in the National unless he’s given a chance. We’d be absolutely thrilled if he could run to a mark of 168, but it makes no sense.

“Unless he’s given a chance he’ll probably be retired at Cheltenham if he runs badly, and maybe Cheltenham is the right place to retire him given his record there.”

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