Anyone who is a fan of horse racing in the UK & Ireland will certainly have heard of the horse Tiger Roll. This isn’t an old, ex-racehorse either, Tiger Roll is still in training and currently gearing towards a tilt at the 2021 Grand National.
It seems a little strange for a horse to receive a documentary while still in training, and the chances are that we will see a final chapter of this when the horse is retired to finish things off. However, in terms of what the horse has done so far, which already includes history breaking achievements, it is an excellent review.
Non-racing fans who don’t know anything will be able to watch this and see the love that people have for this horse, as well as his achievements so far. Those who do know about Tiger Roll can simply watch and reminisce.
Tiger Roll will turn 11 as we move into 2021, so he is certainly a horse that is coming to the end of his career, and what a fine career it has been. He began life intending to run on the flat for Godolphin, but never made the track for them.
In August 2013, aged three and unraced, he was bought at the sales by trainer Nigel Hawke for £10,000 and this was the start of his career. He ran at Market Rasen on debut for Hawke, the first time we had seen him on a racecourse and he made a winning debut.
He’s done so much since that, he now has a bar named after him at Market Rasen racecourse. Not too long after, he was sent to the sales again and was bought by Gigginstown Stud for £80,000, so Hawke certainly made a nice profit on buying and then getting the horse to the track.
As far as achievements go, everything for this horse is centred around the Cheltenham Festival or the Aintree Grand National.
He first won at Cheltenham in 2014 when he won the Triumph Hurdle as a four-year-old over two miles. Since then, he’s won the National Hunt Chase over four miles, and then two cross country chases over 3m6f and the unique cross country course.
That would be enough to create a film for most horses, but Tiger Roll has done a lot more than that.
The Grand National is a huge race on the British calendar and with unique, big fences plus a trip of over four miles, it takes a special horse to complete this race, let alone win it. Tiger Roll won the race in both 2018 and 2019, and was on course for 2020 until the meeting was cancelled.
That brings us onto the 2021 Grand National, a race that will more than likely be the final race of Tiger Roll’s career.
He will undoubtedly be the talking horse of the race, the one that the public want to win, both racing fans and non-racing fans. This will mean plenty of bets on the horse, and he will likely be sent off towards the head of the market, possibly as favourite, not because of his chance but because of the weight of money.
Look out for bookmakers to have plenty of betting offers on the race and this horse in particular, to appease the public wanting to wager. When it comes to boosted prices, this is where you can get a bigger price about your selection, and something the bookmakers may offer.
The hope is that Tiger Roll gets to the 2021 Grand National and runs, if he does, there will be plenty of people betting on him to win this great race again to make it three in a row.
28.01.2021 | Bruno's blog