Tiger Rolls to delightful fifth as ‘National’ hero returns

Gordon Elliott was delighted with Tiger Roll yesterday afternoon as the dual Grand National hero finished fifth to stablemate Cracking Smart on his return to action in the Ladbrokes Ireland Boyne Hurdle at Navan.

Sent off at 9-1, he travelled strongly at the rear of the field for much of the contest and briefly threatened to take a hand in the finish going to the second last hurdle, but began to tire soon after. In contrast Cracking Smart (16-1) and Tiger Roll’s Aintree jockey Davy Russell set sail for home and they soon put the race to bed for the same connections.

At the line they had four lengths in hand of nearest pursuer Penhill (3-1), with Bachasson (11-1) a further five lengths away in third.

“It was great for Cracking Smart to win it but he’s probably going to be overshadowed by Tiger Roll,” the trainer told Racing TV.

“He (Tiger Roll) ran a brilliant race. He jumped and Keith (Donoghue) said after three out he thought he was going to win but after two out just had a blow. We kind of knew that was going to happen with him as he only started cantering on January 1st.

“I’m absolutely thrilled with the horse. As long as he’s OK in the morning it’s all-systems-go to Cheltenham and then all being well the Randox Health Grand National at Aintree.

“I was very worried about the ground and his fitness and I thought it was a brilliant run. He’ll probably go over to Cheltenham in the next 10 days for a pop over the cross-country fences. That’s what we’ve done before,” – Sportinglife.com