Tiger Roll, the dual Grand National hero and five-time Cheltenham Festival winner, was agonisingly denied by Gordon Elliott-trained stablemate Delta Work in the Cross Country Chase on the final start of his remarkable career.
The 12-year-old Tiger Roll was bidding to join Quevega on six Cheltenham Festival wins, and the fairytale finish looked on the cards halfway up the run-in. However, he was overhauled in the closing stages by Delta Work, going down by three-quarters of a length with the pair 21 lengths clear of the third.
Tiger Roll bows out with an astonishing CV, with the highlights being back-to-back wins in the Grand National in 2018 and 2019, plus five Festival wins. They were achieved in the 2014 Triumph Hurdle, 2017 National Hunt Chase and three editions of the Cross Country Chase (2018, 2019 and 2021).
An emotional owner Michael O’Leary said: “This is his send-off – he owes us nothing. He’s been wonderful to come back here for the six, seven, eight years.
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An emotional O’Leary said: “I really would have loved to see Tiger go out on a win. It’s hard not be disappointed. You’ve a winner at Cheltenham and I’m disappointed.
“It’s just a magical fairytale on ground that doesn’t suit him. He’s gone out on his shield, he’s a warrior and that’s a Gold Cup horse that has beat him and only just on ground he wouldn’t like. I’m actually upset – I would have loved to see him win it.”
He added: “This is his send-off – he owes us nothing. He’s been wonderful to come back here for the six, seven, eight years.
“He’s been the horse of a lifetime and in many ways Cheltenham has been his spiritual home. He’s won five times here in Cheltenham. I know he’s won two Grand Nationals, but he started here in Cheltenham. To start off winning the Triumph Hurdle here as a four-year-old, then win the National Hunt Chase and three cross-country races, it’s incredible. He’s a legend.”
Reflecting on the race, Elliott said: “Of course I wanted Tiger to win, but once I won the race I didn’t mind especially because it was Gigginstown who are massive supporters of Cullentra. Seeing them come into the ring (together) is what it’s all about.
“Tiger has been the horse of a lifetime and he’ll have a brilliant retirement now with Gigginstown and Michael.
“He’s been with us nine years and he’ll be impossible to replace. To be honest I had a tear in my eye at the reception he got, if he’d won it would have been unbelievable but I’m still delighted with him.
“Tiger has been a big part of my life, we love him. The reaction didn’t surprise me, it was very nice, but imagine what it would have been like had he won. He got the reaction he deserved. It was a great race and we’re very happy.
“The ground came to suit Delta Work and he’s going to enjoy being in these races over the next few years.”
