Tiger gamble rolls on: National hero now as low as 7-2 to retain Aintree crown

The Grand National gamble on Tiger Roll strengthened on Wednesday as bookmakers slashed his chances of becoming a first back-to-back winner of the race since Red Rum into as short as 7-2.

A four-time Cheltenham Festival winner, the Gordon Elliott-trained pocket-sized superstar could on Tuesday be backed at 11-2 for the Randox Health-backed contest at Aintree, but 24 hours later 4-1 was the best price available.

The layers fear the remarkable nine-year-old could become the shortest-priced National winner in history, eclipsing 11-4 shot Poethlyn, who won the race in 1919.

Nicola McGeady, head of PR at Ladbrokes, said on Wednesday: "After winning the Grand National last year, Tiger Roll was installed at 16-1 to do the double. He was cut to 12-1 after winning the Boyne Hurdle and then 6-1 after the cross-country at Cheltenham last week.

"Today he was still being backed at 5-1 so we’ve had to take action and slash his price further to 4-1. No price seems too short for what could be the shortest-priced favourite in Grand National history.”

Coral have taken similar action, and spokesman Dave Stevens said: "The shortest-priced Grand National winner ever was Poethlyn, who triumphed at odds of 11-4 in 1919. Although National day is the most unique day of the year when the general public comes out to bet, it's not impossible that Tiger Roll could threaten that century-old record next month."

Top-priced 12-1 shot Anibale Fly is rated the biggest danger to Tiger Roll, but on Wednesday trainer Tony Martin could not yet commit his Cheltenham Gold Cup runner-up to the National.

Martin said: "It was a great performance from him at Cheltenham. We were hoping that he’d do something like that so it was great to see him run so well.

"It’s early days yet as far as the Grand National is concerned. It’s too early to commit him to Aintree as there’s only two and a half weeks between the Gold Cup and the Grand National this year when there were four weeks last year.

"He only ran last Friday so we just want to see how he is over the next week or so. I’ll obviously have to have a chat with Frank [Berry] and JP [McManus] as well before a call is made.

Anibale Fly (left): runner-up in the Cheltenham Gold CupCredit: Michael Steele

The trainer added: "Nothing is set in stone at the minute. I know he hasn’t had a lot of racing and the Gold Cup was just his third run this season but we’ll just have to see how he bounces out of it. Punchestown is also an option for him."

The nine-year-old finished two and a half lengths behind Al Boum Photo in the Gold Cup – one place better than when third in the race the year before – and senior BHA chase handicapper Martin Greenwood was impressed with the performance.

He said: "Anibale Fly ran a personal best to finish second in the Gold Cup and is going to be 8lb well in, with his rating now 172. He was 9lb well in last year when finishing fourth in the Grand National, but as I said at the time I think he ran better than the bare result suggests."

'He's perfectly fine, he just had a hard race'

Gold Cup sixth Elegant Escape will miss the Grand National, however, after what assistant trainer Joe Tizzard described as a 'hard race' at Cheltenham.

As short as 16-1 for Aintree on Tuesday, the Welsh National winner finished 26 lengths behind Al Boum Photo, a performance trainer Colin Tizzard called a "massive trial" for the Grand National.

But a 22-day gap between the races has not proved wide enough for Elegant Escape to recover sufficiently.

Joe Tizzard said: "He's perfectly fine, he just had a hard race when sixth in the Gold Cup and with only a three-week gap we thought it best to leave him out. He's only a seven-year-old and has had a reasonably hard campaign but could still run again this season."

Elegant Escape: will not run in the Grand NationalCredit: Alan Crowhurst (Getty Images)

Among the 16 horses scratched on Wednesday, another surprise name was Traffic Fluide, who had been aimed at the race by Gary Moore since winning the Sodexo Gold Cup at Ascot and was a general 33-1 chance.

There are still 81 engaged, including Gold Cup third Bristol de Mai, who heads the heads the weights at 11st 10lb, and Elegant Escape's stablemate Ultragold, who was pulled up in the cross-country chase at the festival.

Tizzard said: "We could still run Ultragold [10st 3lb], who won the last two Tophams and is entered for both races. We'll look at the entries and decide which race to go for."

Greenwood said: "I thought Bristol De Mai ran very well in the Gold Cup. He possibly didn't get home over such a stiff track and is 4lb well in for Aintree."

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