There’s no doubt that Tiger Roll will go down as a modern great in the sport of horse racing. The Gordon Elliott-trained thoroughbred became the first horse since the legendary Red Rum to win the Grand National twice on the trot, and last year he was gunning to become the first horse in the race’s rich history to win the Aintree outing on three successive occasions. However, the global coronavirus pandemic put paid to those plans as the National was cancelled for the first time since World War II.
There’s a real sense now that the opportunity has been missed for Tiger Roll to make history. Last year, he was the pre-race favourite as a potential hat-trick lurked on the horizon. However, ahead of this year’s edition, the 11-year-old was as far out as 17/1 with Betdaq, and he has now been withdrawn from the race due to what his owners deemed was an ‘unfair handicap.’
His longer odds were largely to do with his rapid decline in form. In the build-up to last year’s National, Tiger Roll was also aiming for a third successive Cross Country Chase at the Cheltenham Festival. He was the market favourite heading into the race, but it was a disappointing run from the horse and jockey Keith Donoghue, who is usually in the saddle aside from the National when Davy Russell takes the reins.
Easysland made easy work of the long-distance race, beating Tiger Roll by a huge 17 lengths, and that was seemingly just the beginning of worse to come for the Gigginstown House Stud-owned horse.
Tiger Roll was beaten by a further 29 lengths as he trudged home in sixth at Navan in the Flower Hill Maiden back in October and he pulled up with 12 fences to go in the Cross Country Chase at Cheltenham the following month, with the vet citing no abnormalities in the post-race examination, proving that it was just a poor run from the 11-year-old.
Perhaps worst of all, however, was his recent showing back at Navan last month in the Ireland Boyne Hurdle. At 11/1, Tiger Roll wasn’t expected to win the Grade 2 race, but his connections certainly wouldn’t have been happy as he stumbled home a whopping 65 lengths behind victor and fellow Gigginstown House Stud native Beacon Edge.
There’s no doubt that Tiger Roll has become a shadow of his former self and that’s certainly cause for concern for airline boss Michael O’Leary, who told Luck On Sunday that the upcoming Cross Country Chase could be the last time we see the 11-year-old run.
“He’s getting older, he may not run again after Cheltenham,” O’Leary said. “His last couple of runs suggest he’s not in love with the game anymore and the priority at this point is minding Tiger Roll.”
There was still a glimmer of hope for those keeping their fingers crossed for a Tiger Roll hat-trick, however, as Elliott intended to still enter the horse for the National, and he was hoping that the 11-year-old would be given the green light by O’Leary to run in the race for the public’s sake, but those hopes have since be quashed.
O’Leary threatened to pull Tiger Roll from the Grand National in the past, claiming last year that he would withdraw his entry, again due to the horse’s ‘unfair rating.’ However, that proved to be a front and he was confirmed as a runner before the race was ultimately cancelled.
Whether O’Learly was blagging again or not this year was unclear until the recent announcement, and whilst it’s disappointing news for racing fans around the world, the horse’s best interests need to be at heart, and if there is another poor showing at Prestbury Park later this month, then perhaps it is best that Tiger Roll is retired to a quieter life.
