National Winner Tiger Roll Reappears at Cheltenham in Cross Country Chase

Tiger Roll is a horse that seems to have been around for a very long time, but at just eight year old, the horse is only really hitting his prime right now. He returns this season on the back of a tremendous double at the end of last season, and his long term goal is to repeat that feat in 2019.

He comes back in the Cross Country Chase at Cheltenham on Friday afternoon, and Gordon Elliott looks to have found a suitable opportunity for him to win his first race of the season. This race is ran over the same course and distance as the race he won at the Cheltenham Festival, but being a handicap Tiger Roll does have more weight to carry than his rivals. With nearly 12 stone on his back, this won’t be an easy task, but there are other things in Tiger Roll’s favour going into the race on Friday.

The first of those is that he will get his good ground, something we have seen him run very well on in Spring for the past few seasons. We have not had much rain in recent week, much less than normal and that has left the ground in very good condition for the time of year, something that will help Tiger Roll.

The second thing to remember is how well Tiger Roll travelled through the race at the Festival, he was by far the best horse in the field and went through the race oozing quality. This is a very unique course and one that needs a horse who can handle the twists and turns on offer. We have seen Tiger Roll impress over it, and that counts for a lot, I expect him to travel nicely through this race and even though he has a large weight to shoulder, he should go very close to winning.

As far as the future goes for this horse, the main aim is to come back to Cheltenham for the Cross Country race at the festival once more, and then go on to defend his Grand National crown in April. It feels like he has been around for years, but Tiger Roll is only eight year old, and coming into his prime, giving him a great chance to defend both titles next spring and write himself into the history books.