Tiger Roll Bidding For Grand National Hat-Trick

The Grand National at Aintree is always one of the biggest fixtures on the British horse racing calendar, but this year there will be added focus on the world’s most famous steeplechase as Tiger Roll bids for a hat-trick of wins.

Red Rum is the only horse in the history of the Grand National to win the marathon contest three times. The popular chaser was successful in 1973, 1974 and 1977. He has also finished runner-up twice in the Aintree feature.

Tiger Roll is attempting to win the race for the third straight year. The Irish chaser is the 5/1 favourite in the horse racing betting for the 2020 contest. Connections of the dual winner have confirmed that their runner will line up at Aintree as long as he is fit and healthy.

Gordon Elliott’s horse was first successful in 2018 when he came out on top by just a head in front of Pleasant Company. 12 months later, that margin was bigger as he scored by 2¾ lengths, with Magic of Light leading the charge against him.

Boyne Hurdle run was respectable

Tiger Roll once again made his seasonal reappearance in the Boyne Hurdle at Navan. He was unable to prevail in the Grade Two hurdle contest. However, connections will have been pleased with the performance.

The 10-year-old was travelling well and in contention until two out, but then made no impression on the leaders in the closing stages, finishing fifth of eight runners.

Given that was his first run since the 2019 Grand National, he will be expected to improve on that outing as the season progresses.

Tiger Roll is set to feature at the Cheltenham Festival once again. He goes into the Cross Country Chase looking to win that race also for the third straight year.

Extra weight this year

The official handicapper announced in February that Tiger Roll will need to carry joint-top weight of 11st-10lb in his bid to make history.

That allocation is 11lb more than what he had on his back in 2018 and 5lb higher than what he was carrying in 2019.

Red Rum was the last horse to win off top weight in 1977 so Tiger Roll is going to need a career-best performance to come out on top this time around.

Challengers to Tiger

Burrows Saint is regarded as the biggest challenger to Tiger Roll according to the bookmakers’ odds, as he is the 12/1 second favourite. The former Irish Grand National winner is trained by Willie Mullins and recently prevailed over hurdles at Navan.

Any Second Now is also prominent in the betting at 14/1. He was successful in a Grade Three chase at Naas on his last outing. Ted Walsh’s runner is near the bottom of the weights as he bids to give his trainer second win in the world’s most famous steeplechase.

This year’s Grand National takes place on the 4th of April, and it is a race which simply cannot be missed. A sellout crowd is expected at Aintree, where many of them will be hoping to catch a bit of history.