READY TO ROLL
TIGER ROLL is on track to bid for a historic third win in a row in the Randox Health Grand National next year.
Trainer Gordon Elliott revealed the nine-year-old has arrived back from his summer holidays in good form and is starting to up his work as the National Hunt season looms.
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However, racing fans will have to wait until the New Year before seeing him back on a racecourse.
Elliott said: "It is great to see him back, doing a bit of work again. He has had a nice couple of months of summer holidays.
"He went back to Gigginstown and had about 10-12 weeks out on grass. He hasn't had a saddle on him since Aintree and the National but he has done a few parades and had a few good days out, which is great.
"I have seen him a couple of times during the summer at Gigginstown and he was good and strong, and I have seen him when he was here for a while before he went off to do his flat work and he looked good.
"He will probably do three or four weeks of flat work before he comes back to us in the main yard here. Obviously he won't be that busy this year. We are going to have to mind him now and pick and choose where we go.
"He will probably have one run over hurdles, maybe something like the Boyne Hurdle (Navan, February) again. He will go back to Cheltenham (March) for the Cross Country race and then we'll go for the Randox Health Grand National."
The trainer went on to reveal riding arrangements for this season: "Keith (Donoghue) will ride him at Cheltenham in the Cross Country race and the Boyne Hurdle and then Davy Russell will ride him in the National."
Tiger Roll's second Grand National win in April this year sparked huge interest around Britain and Ireland in the horse, along with a number of public appearances in the weeks which followed.
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Elliott admits that he only realised how much his stable superstar meant to people after the race when reading headlines and meeting people.
He explained: "You don't really realise how much the horse meant to everyone. You see all the kids and all the different people who came to the yard.
"You don't really appreciate it when you are in the bubble yourself. You don't realise how much of a thing there is about this horse, you know? It's only after when you sit back and you watch the videos and read all the paper clippings, people have really got to like him.
"You know, he has got a great name, Tiger Roll, and he's got a great heart. He has obviously won at four Cheltenham Festivals and to win two Randox Health Grand Nationals has been unbelievable.
"Everyone who comes into the yard, there's only one horse they want to see and that is Tiger Roll. He's a people's horse now and we are very lucky to have him.
"Red Rum was before my time but you've seen the videos and heard all about him. He was an amazing horse and to be in the same league as him is unbelievable."
Ominously for his rivals, Elliott believes Tiger Roll has improved and, if everything in his preparation goes right, he will have a fantastic chance to make history.
He added: "I suppose last year (2018) we thought he would hose up until the last 50 yards and he just nearly got caught. I was still confident when he had got past the line last year that he had won but, until they call the result, you never know.
Latest Grand National betting news
Tiger Roll heads Coral's betting for next year's Randox Grand National at 6-1, following the news that the dual-Aintree winner will be targeted at an historic hat-trick bid this season.
Coral's David Stevens said: "It is fantastic that Tiger Roll will be aimed at an unprecedented Grand National hat-trick attempt this season, as there is no doubt he is a firm favourite among punters and racing fans, and on National day with the wider public also.
"Such is the unique nature of the National as a one-off betting contest, and the biggest of the year by far, his victory in last season's race was not the armageddon we feared, he was sent off the 4-1 favourite that day, and fingers-crossed he makes it back to Aintree next April, when he's sure to start a similar price, if not shorter.
2020 Grand National Betting from Coral
- 6-1 Tiger Roll
- 14-1 Burrows Saint
- 20-1 Rathvinden
- 25-1 Magic Of Light, Native River
- 33-1 Anibale Fly, Any Second Now, Beware The Bear, Cadmium, Elegant Escape, Le Breuil, Pleasant Company, Vintage Clouds, Walk In The Mill
- 40-1 bar
"This year was probably easier to watch. He travelled and jumped and did everything right. You know, it's a funny thing to say but he was arguably a better horse this year than he was last year.
"I think the build up to the English National this season is going to be unbelievable. The hype - people are talking about him already.
"Whether he wins, loses or draws if he gets back there to have a go at three in a row it's going to be great. The hype is going to be brilliant."