Aintree next stop for three-time festival winners Tiger Roll and Cause Of Causes
Tiger Roll will seek to add the Randox Health Grand National to his three Cheltenham Festival wins after Gordon Elliott reported the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase winner to have emerged well from his latest success.
But stablemate Cause Of Causes, a 20-1 shot for the Aintree showpiece in which he finished second last year, was on Sunday reported to be "stiff and sore" after being pulled up in the same race as Tiger Roll on Wednesday.
Tiger Roll was one of eight festival winners for trainer Gordon Elliott, as Keith Donoghue steered the eight-year-old to victory over the unique cross country fences. The gelding was successful in the Triumph Hurdle in 2014 and the National Hunt Chase in 2017.
Elliott, who trained Silver Birch to win the National in 2007, said about the top-priced 25-1 chance for Aintree: "Tiger Roll has come out of Cheltenham well and the Grand National is the plan for him."
The gap between Cheltenham and Aintree is four weeks this year and that gives horses more time to recover from their exertions in the Cotswolds – a recovery period Cause of Causes will appreciate.
The ten-year-old's trainer said: "Cause Of Causes didn't perform at Cheltenham and is stiff and sore. We'll see how he recovers and Aintree is still the plan, if all is well with him."
Cause Of Causes was bidding for a fourth consecutive Cheltenham Festival win six days ago, having won the cross-country event a year ago after his victories in the 2015 National Hunt Chase and the 2016 Kim Muir.
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