TIGER’S READY TO ROLL
A BHA handicapper believes Tiger Roll has a serious chance of becoming the first back-to-back Grand National winner since Red Rum.
Martin Greenwood says he sees no reason why Gordon Elliott’s “rat” of a horse cannot win again in April.
He said: “He’s an unexposed eight-year-old and I cannot see why he can’t do it again. I have him currently rated on 159.
“He ran very closely to that mark in the cross-country race at Cheltenham a few weeks ago and according to his trainer he will run in the cross-country race at the Cheltenham Festival again in March.
“And when the weights close in February for the National, I expect him to be on 159, so he will be 11lb higher than he carried last season.”
But yesterday Elliott was not getting carried away about the gelding’s prospects.
Speaking at his stables in Summerhill, Co Meath, he said: “It was very special to win it last year as Tiger Roll has now become a people’s horse.
“He’s not the most impressive to look at and he’s probably the smallest horse we have out with the string this morning. But he wears his heart on his sleeve every day.
“Listen, if I’m going to be perfectly honest, it will be a massive ask for him to come back and do it again. He’s going to have close to top weight but he has to have a good sporting each-way chance.”
Tiger Roll is expected to run in the cross-country chase at Cheltenham next week and Elliott is plotting the same route to this season’s National.
The trainer is expected have 11 entries in the National, including Don Poli, who runs in Saturday’s Becher Chase, Noble Endeavor and last year’s National third Bless The Wings.
And he could not hide his delight about recent French recruit Borice, who also has the National as his target.
“I like him a lot, he’s a big solid horse,” he said. “He could be the dark horse, he has good form in France, where he’s won twice.
“I plan to have him out at Leopardstown at the end of the month when he runs in the Paddy Power Chase.”
Paddy Power go 50-1 about the seven-year-old for the National.