How Many Horses Run In Grand National

Cloth Cap breezes to the win in the bet365 Premier Chase
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Tiger Roll will not bid for a third victory in the Randox Grand National at Aintree next month, owners Gigginstown House Stud have announced.

The Gordon Elliott-trained 11-year-old became the first horse since Red Rum in the 1970s to win back-to-back renewals of the world’s most famous steeplechase when striking gold in 2018 and 2019.

The coronavirus pandemic robbed connections of the chance to emulate Red Rum by claiming a third National success 12 months ago – and owner Michael O’Leary and his brother Eddie have warned on several occasions since that he would not line up in this year’s renewal if they felt he was unfairly treated by the handicapper.

Tiger Roll was given a mark of 166 when the weights were officially unveiled last month and ahead of the latest scratchings stage on Tuesday, Gigginstown confirmed he will not be running at Aintree due to what they feel is a “patently unfair” rating.

A spokesperson for the owners said in a statement: “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.”

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.

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.

Kimberlite Candy has twice finished runner-up over the Grand National fences in the Becher Chase (2019 and 2020) and has been allotted 10st 10lb. The JP McManus-owned nine year old could warm up for Aintree in the Listed Premier Chase at Kelso this Saturday (March 6).

Trainer Tom Lacey reported: “Kimberlite Candy seems in really good order and he’s entered at Kelso on Saturday in the Premier Chase. We’ll monitor the ground (before deciding whether to run him).

“He does have a good record fresh, but you mustn’t underestimate the need for match practice, so we’ll take stock and then make a decision in midweek whether to have a prep run or not.

“A host of recent winners have carried between 10-10 and 11-06, and he’s in that range, so statistically he’s got a chance. He’s the right age and has got proven form around there, so he goes there with a big chance.

“The Grand National was always the target from the moment he came back in from his summer break. We’ll be hoping for some April showers, but he’d manage on good to soft. He’s a much stronger animal than he was this time last year.

“I think he’s actually the finished article now whereas last year he was still improving – he hit the line very hard in the Classic Chase and I feel he’s strengthened up even more on the back of another summer.

“I hope he’s got a chance. In the Becher Chase this year he was a bit clumsy over the first, but thereafter his jumping was very accurate.”

Trainer Evan Williams has gone close to success in the Randox Grand National before, with Cappa Bleu taking the runner-up spot in 2013 and State Of Play finishing in the first four on three occasions.

This year he could be represented by Secret Reprieve (10st 1lb), who was last seen claiming the Welsh National at Chepstow on January 9th.

Williams said: “Secret Reprieve is good, and we’re happy with everything. I’ve sort of discussed the National with Mr and Mrs Rucker (owners), and we’re going to leave him in, but we wouldn’t want to fully commit to this race at this stage yet, because obviously the ground and how he is over the coming weeks will be a major factor in whether we decide to have a crack at the race. We’ll see how things develop.

“What we’d like to know is exactly how everything is going to look like come April - we wouldn’t like to start being bold because that would be unfair to the horse. His last run was in the Welsh National so we just want to make sure everything is spot on with him as regards to everything really – his wellbeing, the ground and everything else. We’re taking every week as it comes.

“He wouldn’t be in the race if we didn’t hope he would be the type of horse that wouldn’t be able to excel around there. With these horses like him, it’s always best to take every week as it comes but if he could bring his best form to the table then obviously it looks like there’d be plenty of positives.

“Because he’s very inexperienced or young – rather than being bold and saying ‘this will suit him and that will suit him’, we’d be far happier ticking away and letting him tell us if he’s right.

“We’ll talk about Cheltenham after this week, because he’s due to do a piece of work in the middle of the week and I imagine come the weekend Mr and Mrs Rucker and myself will have a good chat about Cheltenham around this time next week. So let’s deal with the Cheltenham question first and then the Aintree question after.”

Williams has another potential starter in Prime Venture (9st 10lb), although the trainer acknowledges that the nine year old is far from certain to make the line-up on April 10th.

He continued: “He’s a horse that I can say that if he got a run in the Grand National we’d be delighted to take our chance, because he’s the complete opposite to Secret Reprieve.

“He’s proven in those long distance handicaps and has been placed in a Welsh Grand National and a Midlands Grand National and if he got a run we’d be delighted to have a crack at it. Our first preference with him, because he’s got less chance of getting in, would be the Midlands National at Uttoxeter.

“He’s a funny old devil! We’ve kept him fresh especially (in case he was to sneak into the Grand National) and I can say that Aintree would be right up his agenda. Those fences could spark him right up and he could still be going when other boys have had enough.

“He would relish the fences. He would be a big price, but I could see that fella relishing the job. If he gets in, he’ll be running in the Grand National.”

Betway PR Manager, Chad Yeomans, said: “The big talking point is that Tiger Roll will not be taking his chance in the Grand National this year, so a new Grand National hero will be crowned. It’s been a popular market since the launch of the weights a few weeks ago, with both Cloth Cap and Burrows Saint being supported into 12-1 joint-favourites.

“JP McManus looks to have a very strong hand again this year and both Kimberlite Candy, who has been crying out for the Grand National trip, and Any Second Now for trainer Grand National winning trainer Ted Walsh, have both been popular with the Betway punters and have been backed into 14-1 and 16-1 respectively.”

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