Tiger Roll, a five-time winner at The Festival™ and twice successful in the Randox Grand National, will return to Cheltenham Racecourse on day one of The November Meeting (Friday 11th November), when he will be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame museum at the racecourse displays almost 100 years of history that hangs from the ceiling in iconic Cheltenham fashion, telling the story of the Home of Jump Racing.
Bred to be a Flat race performer and originally purchased on behalf of Godolphin, Tiger Roll won on his only start for West Country handler Nigel Hawke before being sent to the Brightwells Sale at Cheltenham in December 2013, when he was purchased by agent Mags O’Toole on behalf of Gigginstown House Stud and sent into training with Gordon Elliott.
The son of Authorized next appeared at Cheltenham in the JCB Triumph Hurdle at The Festival™ in 2014, when he was successful at 10-1.
In all, Tiger Roll would go on to appear 13 times at Cheltenham, winning on six occasions.
His five Festival wins were:
2014 JCB Triumph Hurdle (ridden by Davy Russell)
2017 JT McNamara National Hunt Challenge Cup Amateur Riders' Novices' Chase (ridden by Lisa O’Neill)
2018, 2019, 2021 – Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase (ridden by Keith Donoghue)
Tiger Roll’s other success was in the 2014 Masterson Holdings Hurdle at The Showcase, when he was ridden by Bryan Cooper.
If the above achievements were not enough, the remarkable Tiger Roll also won the world’s greatest chase – the Randox Grand National at Aintree – in 2018 and 2019. This was the first time a horse had won back to back Grand Nationals since Red Rum in 1973/1974.
It was after his run at The Festival earlier this year, when he went down to by three-quarters of a length to stable companion Delta Work in the Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase, that Tiger Roll was retired at the age of 12.
Paying tribute to Tiger Roll, Gigginstown House Stud supremo Michael O’Leary said:
“All of us who were so fortunate to be associated with Tiger Roll from Nigel Hawke, to Mags O’Toole, to my brother Eddie, Gordon Elliott, and his outstanding team at Cullentra, as well as Anita, myself and our children, realise how fortunate and privileged we have been to share in Tiger Roll’s epic journey.
“He was a little horse, but was brave as a lion, and had the heart of a tiger. It was a privilege to return year after year to Cheltenham and Aintree, where he distinguished himself with every run. He will be most remembered for his two Grand National wins, however his five victories at the Cheltenham Festival over different courses and distances was perhaps his greatest achievement, and a testament to his unquenchable spirit, and his love for Jump racing.
“We are all privileged to have played a tiny part in the legend of Tiger Roll.”
