The Grand National is only a matter of months away and whilst thousands of punters flock to the Merseyside course for one of the biggest horse racing events in the world, 600 million more people around the globe grind to a halt for the eight-minute spectacle. Over half of adults in the United Kingdom are believed to place a bet on the illustrious race, which boasts a £1m prize pot, and many are already on the hunt for form guides and searching for the best odds on the Grand National.
As the excitement builds for the massive race at Aintree, drama has unfolded away from the track. Gordon Elliott-trained Tiger Roll, who has won the last two Grand Nationals, was tipped to make it three on the bounce, although his owner has now claimed that the 10-year-old is not ‘certain’ to race.
Tiger Roll was hoping to become the first horse to win the National three times in a row and the first to win it three times overall since the legendary Red Rum’s victories in 1973, 1974 and 1977. However, yesterday’s weight announcement has put the Irish-owned horse’s race into jeopardy.
Tiger Roll has been given 11st 10lb, the same weight as stablemate Delta Work, and if he was to race and make it three-in-a-row, he would be the first horse to win off top weight since Red Rum.
“I’m obviously very disappointed that they have only compressed him by a single pound,” O’Leary told Racing Post.
“We’re not going to jump up and down about it as we have said all we wanted to say already, but we will have to have a serious think about whether he will run.
“I mean that. He really is not certain to line up. Delta Work is our Gold Cup horse and the handicapper thinks Tiger Roll is as good as him that makes no sense to me at all.
“We will be entering Tiger Roll in the Betway Bowl, so the Grand National will not be his only option at Aintree.”
“Tiger Roll is a brilliant, brilliant horse and he is completely invaluable to us, but we have to do our best by the horse. What is far more important at this present time is he gets through Sunday at Navan okay and then comes out of Cheltenham in one piece. That’s at the front of our minds at the moment.”
The 10-year-old will make his first appearance in the Grade Two Boyne Hurdle at Navan in Ireland this Sunday and is expected to scoop first place for the second year in a row after beating Off You Go by four lengths.
The 5/1 Grand National favourite is also tipped to win the Cross Country Chase at the Cheltenham Festival next month – which would be his fifth win at the hugely-popular Prestbury Park meeting.
Meanwhile, following the weight announced yesterday in Liverpool, Colin Tizzard’s Native River, who won the Welsh Grand National in 2016, saw his odds drastically slashed from 16/1 to 8/1 moving him into second-favourite and right onto Tiger Roll’s tail.
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