Tiger Roll 'absolutely flying' as dual National hero tackles Boyne Hurdle

Ladbrokes Ireland Boyne Hurdle (Grade 2) | 2m5f, 5yo+ | ITV4/RTV

There has been a lot said and written about Tiger Roll this past week. Will he or won't he bid for an historic third Aintree Grand National. Was the handicapper harsh in allotting the 11-year-old second top weight in the race or was he perfectly right to do so? Those were the questions posed. We still don't have the answers.

What if you asked Gordon Elliott how the most popular horse in jump racing has been training ahead of the Boyne Hurdle, a crucial stepping stone towards Cheltenham and a possible tilt at Aintree? There is no sitting on the fence here.

"Tiger Roll is flying," comes Elliott's response. "He's absolutely flying. He's just a different horse now to this time last year. It was well documented that he had a setback last year and it was all a bit of a rush to get him to Cheltenham. He's back to his old self out on the gallops now and is bouncing again. We schooled him over cross-country fences a couple of times last week and he went well."

A recent spin over the cross-country fences has worked wonders in rekindling that spark within Tiger Roll, who according to Elliott is a different horse in the spring.

He explained: "I know he disappointed at Cheltenham in November, but he came back sore behind and he's never really at his best around that time of year anyway."

Elliott added: "The only concern would be very heavy ground at Navan, but we couldn't be happier with him going there. Hopefully he can put in a good performance and it will be all systems go for Cheltenham."

Gordon Elliott: 'Hopefully he can put in a good performance and it will be all systems go for Cheltenham'Credit: Patrick McCann

Can history repeat itself or will youth prevail?

Who can forget what happened in this race two seasons ago? A pot-bellied Tiger Roll came from last to first, as if he had just joined in with a couple of hurdles to race, making a mockery of his 25-1 SP. Could history repeat itself?

Tiger Roll would appear to have more on his plate here. On that occasion he came into the race of the back of a respectable fourth in the cross-country race at Cheltenham the previous November.

This season Tiger Roll failed to complete. Gordon Elliott has never shied away from revealing that the Tiger has been without his roar for the past year or so. However, the trainer has made more positive noises in recent days, which would give fans of the modern day legend hope that he can show some of his old spark.

You get the impression that, should Tiger Roll travel into contention and get tired, that would be job done and it would be onwards and upwards with a view towards Cheltenham and beyond.

As far as finding a winner for this race is concerned, Gigginstown would appear to hold the key with younger rivals Fury Road and Beacon Edge.

A reproduction of Beacon Edge's Hatton's Grace third would surely make him hard to beat, while Fury Road advertises that rock-solid Albert Bartlett form from last season.

French Dynamite possibly didn't see out the three miles at Leopardstown over Christmas and could be suited by coming back to this trip. Whatever happens, it should throw up any amount of clues for the future.

What they say

Gordon Elliott, trainer of Fury Road
Fury Road can be forgiven his run at Leopardstown over Christmas as he wasn't quite one hundred per cent. He seems to be much better at home and we're looking forward to running him. I'm half leaning towards skipping Cheltenham altogether with him and keeping him for Fairyhouse and Punchestown. We'll see how we get on here first.

Noel Meade, trainer of Beacon Edge and Sixshooter
We were disappointed with him the last day, but he did have a colic over Christmas and had to undergo a week of treatment for that so maybe we were expecting a little bit too much of him at Naas. We are hoping he is back on track now and, if he is, hopefully he can produce a big run. Sixshooter is unlikely to run.

Joseph O’Brien, trainer of Darasso
He enjoys heavy going. It looks a hot race, but we think the distance and the track will suit. Hopefully he can run very well.

Noel Kelly, trainer of Decor Irlandais
I think there is a nice pot in this horse, but he's coming here off the back of a break and might just need the run, especially on very heavy ground. He might be more of an Aintree horse as opposed to a Cheltenham horse.

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