Tiger Roll withdrawn from Randox Grand National because of "unfair weight"

Tiger Roll withdrawn from Randox Grand National because of "unfair weight"

By Harry Allwood
Last Updated: Tue 5 Dec 2023
By Harry Allwood and Andy Stephens
Dual Grand National winner Tiger Roll will not seek to attempt to win the world's most famous race for a record-equalling third time, his owners Gigginstown House Stud revealed on Tuesday.
Gigginstown have withdrawn one of jump racing's biggest stars, emphatic winner of the world's most famous race in 2018 and 2019, because of his "unfair weight".
His absence will mean he will not get the chance to emulate the legendary Red Rum by winning a third National.
But the leading owners are still planning on running the Gordon Elliott-trained 11-year-old in the Glenfarclas Chase at the Cheltenham Festival this month.
Elliott is under investigation over a shocking image showing him sitting on a dead horse on his gallops, which was published on Saturday. The BHA have barred him from having runners in Britain at the present time.
A statement released on Tuesday morning explained their decision to withdraw the dual Grand National winner from the Aintree showpiece at Tuesday's forfeit stage, and said Tiger Roll "is clearly not as good as he was".
Tiger Roll had been alloted a rating of 166. His latest National win was achieved off 159, when he lined up 8lb well-in. He has run only twice over fences since then, once off a bad prep and secondly when found to be amiss.
The statement from Gigginstown House Stud said: “When Tiger Roll won his second Grand National in April 2019 he ran off a rating of 159. He won by just two and a half lengths at the age of nine, having previously won the Boyne Hurdle in Navan and then won the 2019 Cheltenham cross-country race by 22 lengths.
“Two years later, the horse is now 11 years old. He was beaten by 17 lengths in last year’s Cheltenham cross-country and by 75 lengths in last month’s Boyne Hurdle, so his form over an extended two-year period suggests that he is clearly not as good as he was when he won the National in April 2019.
“Despite this pretty obvious decline, the handicapper has given him a mark of 166, which is 7lb higher than when he won his second Grand National in April 2019. We believe this is patently unfair, unjustified and does not reflect the horse’s age or his form over the past two seasons.
“We made clear that if Tiger Roll was rated ‘in the 150s’ (i.e where he was two years ago), which is what his form and age now warrants, he would be allowed to run in this year’s National and go for a historic three in a row.
“However, the handicapper has decided to rate him on his reputation rather than his form – which we fully accept is his prerogative – but we have a duty of care to Tiger, and so we will not ask him to carry an unfair weight burden, especially as he gets older and his form declines.
“We therefore regret to announce that Tiger Roll will be removed from the Grand National entries at Tuesday’s forfeit stage.
“We hope he will run next as planned in the cross-country race at Cheltenham, where we hope he will enjoy himself and run well. After that, we will consider his future well-being, which may involve retirement if his handicap mark is not adjusted to more fairly reflect his age and form over the past two seasons.
“We all look forward to this year’s Aintree Grand National, which we hope can now proceed without any further speculation over Tiger Roll’s participation.
“We fully respect the handicapper’s right to determine the Grand National weights as he so chooses, but we respectfully believe that he is mistaken in allocating an unfair and unwarranted weight to Tiger Roll.
“In these circumstances, as we previously advised, Tiger Roll will not run.”
Elliott is currently not be permitted to have runners in Britain until the conclusion of an Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board investigation into an image on social media that showed him sitting on a dead horse on his gallops.
Aintree clerk of the course Sulekha Varma is disappointed Tiger Roll will miss out and believes another possible hat-trick seeker will not been seen for some time.
She said: “It is a shame. It would have been fantastic to see the horse go and attempt to win the race three times. I think we may never get the chance again in our lifetimes, but he's been a fabulous horse.
“I'm sorry we won't see him at Aintree this year, but it's for the owners and trainers to do what they feel is right for the horse.”
Varma feels the Grand National will still offer plenty of excitement, despite Tiger Roll's absence.
“There are so many other stories. It has great horses and it's fantastic we're going to actually run the race this year, having lost it last year. That's hugely exciting,” she added.
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