Tiger Roll will target historic Grand National treble, trainer Gordon Elliott confirms

Two-time Grand National winner Tiger Roll will target a historic hat-trick of wins in the Aintree race this season, trainer Gordon Elliott has confirmed.

The Gigginstown horse became the first multiple National winner since Red Rum when finishing two-and-three-quarter lengths clear of Magic Of Light, back in April.

Owner Michael O’Leary had suggested at that point that a tilt at a third straight victory was unlikely due to concerns over the weight he would have to carry, with the horse likely to have the Cross Country race at the Cheltenham Festival as his primary target, before potentially being retired.

However, Elliott confirmed on Friday that while a fifth Cheltenham Festival success is still firmly on the agenda, a return to Aintree and a bid to become the first horse to ever win three Nationals in a row would be his main aim.

“Obviously he won’t be that busy this year,” Elliott said. “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 [at Navan, in February] again. He will go back to Cheltenham for the Cross Country race and then we’ll go for the Randox Health Grand National.

“People tell me I should be entering him in Stayers’ Hurdles or Gold Cups but I was always taught and I am a big believer in going for the race you think you can win at the Cheltenham Festival and the race I think I can win at the Cheltenham Festival is the Cross Country race, so that’s where he will go.

“But the number one target this year will be the English National.”