The 2022 Grand National festival gets underway next month with three days of top quality racing taking place at the iconic Aintree course, therefore now is a great time to check out all of the very latest Grand National news and free bets which are available when registering with any of our featured bookmaker partners using the links provided.
Tiger Roll officially out of 2022 Grand National
Having been officially ruled out of the 2022 Randox Grand National, Tiger Roll won’t be competing for an historic hat-trick in the famous steeplechase although handler Gordon Elliott is confident of his chances in the Glenfarclas Cross Country at the Cheltenham Festival later this month.
Owner Michael O’Leary reaffirmed his stance at the weekend that the two-time Grand National winner wouldn’t be making a return to Aintree on Saturday 9th April due to what he considered to be a “ridiculous rating and unfair weight” and official confirmation that he would stand by his decision came on Tuesday when Tiger Roll was scratched from the contest.
At this stage, fourteen runners were removed from the £1 million race and these included fellow Irish-trained horses Off You Go, Eklat De Rire, Assemble, The Big Dog, Brace Yourself, Eurobot and Mister Fogpatches.
The confirmation that Tiger Roll won’t be participating in the world-famous steeplechase will come as a blow to the race organisers, however Elliott has decided to focus more of his attention on getting the runner back to the Cheltenham Festival where he will bid for an historic sixth festival success.
Considering his uninspiring performances this season, it remains to be seen how much ability Tiger Roll still has, however Elliott is confident.
“There’s only one place I care about winning with this horse and it’s Cheltenham”, he said.
“I’d say his run last time in a handicap hurdle at Navan was equal to what he showed [the previous year] in the Boyne Hurdle, and everyone said he had no chance.
“If the ground is good, around that place he’s just different. He’s getting older, and to say that he is what he was in his pomp is probably hard. If he can turn up at 80 per cent of the form he showed in winning the Cross Country before, he’ll take all the beating.”
Elliott is hoping that the ground will be to Tiger Roll’s liking and regarding the chances of the top-priced 2/1 favourite in the Cross Country, he added: “We had him at Cheltenham last week schooling over banks and he was very good. I suppose the one negative I’d have would be if the ground turned up soft. Tiger Roll isn’t the same horse on soft ground.
“The better the ground, the better his chance. I don’t think there’s a lot of rain expected there over the next few weeks. If the ground dries out, we’re very happy with him.
“He’s only missed the Cheltenham Festival once [in 2016] since his first win there in the 2014 Triumph Hurdle. He’s a great horse and part of the team here – the horse of a lifetime.
“Anyone who comes into this yard – we have kids coming in here from all over the world with Irish parents – and the first horse they want to see is him. The kids want a picture with him, to sit up on him if they can. We probably don’t realise how lucky we are to have a horse like him.”
