The eleven-year-old won back-to-back victories in 2018 and 2019 and was favoured to win the Grand National in 2020 before the coronavirus caused the race’s cancellation with a virtual race taking place instead. Tiger Roll was the first horse since Red Rum did so in 1973 and 1974.
The horse could have been the first to win the race in three consecutive meetings. Red Rum won the Grand Nation three times but finished second on two occasions in 1975 & 1976, before taking his third win in 1977.
The Gordon Elliott-trained horse won his first Grand National in 2018, beating closest challenger Pleasant Company by a head while carrying 10st 13lb. In the 2019 race, he beat 66/1 shot Magic of Light by two and three-quarter lengths while carrying 11st 5lb.
Ryanair’s Michael O’Leary, who owns the horse along with his brother Eddie had previously threatened to withdraw the horse if the BHA handicapper gave the horse more weight than he had previously carried. This week the brothers made good on their threat by officially removing the horse from the Aintree spectacle after Martin Greenwood raised Tiger Roll’s weight 7lb from the 2019 running weight of 11st 9lb. A weight that is just 1lb shy of top weights Bristol De Mai, Easysland and Santini.
A spokesperson for the brothers said: “We made clear that if Tiger Roll was rated ‘in the 150s’, which is what his form and age now warrants, he would be allowed to run this year’s National and go for a historic ‘three in a row’. “However, the handicapper has decided to rate him on his reputation rather than his form – which we fully accept is his prerogative – but we have a duty of care to Tiger, and so we will not ask him to carry an unfair weight burden, especially as he gets older and his form declines.
“We hope he will run next as planned in the cross-country race at Cheltenham, where we hope he will enjoy himself and run well.
“After that, we will consider his future wellbeing, which may involve retirement if his handicap mark is not adjusted to more fairly reflect his age and form over the past two seasons.”
The statement continued: “We all look forward to this year’s Grand National, which we hope can now proceed without any further speculation over Tiger Roll’s participation. We fully respect the handicapper’s right to determine the Grand National weights as he so chooses, but we respectfully believe that he is mistaken in allocating an unfair and unwarranted weight to Tiger Roll.
“In these circumstances, as we previously advised, Tiger Roll will not run.”
The horse’s withdrawal will be a blow for many punters who believed the horse would complete an unprecedented treble. Early betting for the 10 April race, Tiger Roll was the ante-post favourite, with his price ranging from 25-1 to as low as 8-1 with some bookmakers.
Cloth Cap is the new bookmakers favourite, generally available @ 10/1. The horse will be in action this weekend in the Listed Premier Chase at Kelso. The Ladbrokes Trophy winner was expected to be racing against another of the favourites for the Grand National, Kimberlite Candy. Despite being entered, the horse did not appear among the final declarations.
