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Tiger Roll now 12/1 to win Cheltenham Gold Cup 2020

Tiger Roll etched his name into National Hunt racing folklore on Saturday 6 April when winning a consecutive Grand National crown, with the horse obliging at odds of 4/1.

The nine-year-old is now unlikely to be seen at a racecourse over the next few months, although there will be plenty of talk surrounding his targets for next season and many reckon that the gelding might have won the 2019 Gold Cup at the Cheltenham Festival if he’d been entered.

Tiger Roll was alternatively entered into the Cross Country Chase on Day Two of the meeting which saw the horse win by a country mile, with owner Michael O’Leary indicating that his runner will go for that race again next season, although trainer Gordon Elliott might look to persuade him otherwise.

The bookmakers would certainly give him a reasonable chance with a run and one firm go 12/1 about the two-time Grand National winner landing the 2020 Gold Cup, with the horse possessing the stamina and jumping ability to go close in the Festival’s blue riband event.

While some bookmakers are prepared to lay quotes of 12/1 or 16/1 about Tiger Roll winning the Gold Cup, BetVictor are going 33/1 about the popular horse and they have clearly heeded Michael O’Leary’s comments which might see him plod around the middle of the Cheltenham course in the Cross Country.

"We are not tempted by the Gold Cup - he is a small horse, the Gold Cup is such an attritional race," said O'Leary.

"He has won four times at Cheltenham, and if he were to go back and win five times at Cheltenham - what more do you want from the horse? I think at that stage I would mind every precious hair in his body."

Tiger Roll is trading at just 2/1 with Paddy Power to win the 2020 Cross Country Chase and you might expect him to be more like 1/2 should the horse stay fit and line up for this particular race.

The two-time National champion is also no bigger than 8/1 to secure a third Grand National and usurp the great Red Rum who is the only horse to have landed three National victories although he didn’t do this on consecutive years.

Bet365 make him a 5/1 chance to win the 2020 Grand National, although that price could be more like 5/2 should Gordon Elliott get him primed for a tilt at the National for a third season running and much depends on what sort of weight allowance he would be given.

While O’Leary is clearly an obstinate owner who will do whatever he feels is the right decision, there is sure to be popular clamour for Tiger Roll to compete and aim to win a third consecutive Grand National, with racing fans hoping that the horse returns to Aintree as a ten-year-old for another potentially show-stopping round of jumping.