Can Any Horse Complete The Cheltenham And Aintree Double This Year?
RACING-ENG-NATIONAL Jockeys ride their horses over the water jump as they compete in the Grand National Handicap Chase horse race on the final day of the Grand National Festival at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, north west England on April 6, 2019. Tiger Roll put his name alongside legend Red Rum on Saturday winning back to back Grand Nationals in stunning style. The 4-1 favourite, superbly ridden by Davy Russell, took up the running at the last fence and although 66-1 outsider Magic of Light came back at him the nine-year-old had enough to spare to emulate Red Rums feat in 1973-74. Oli Scarff/AFP/Ritzau Scanpix
Tiger Roll has been successful at the Cheltenham Festival and Grand National in each of the last two years. Given the short space between the two meetings though, not many horses are able to pull off the impressive double.
Here is a look at some of the runners which will be looking to win at the Festival and then prevail at Aintree just month later in 2020.
Tiger Roll
Not only has Tiger Roll recorded victories in the last two renewals of the Grand National, he has also been successful in the 2018 and 2019 runnings of the Cross Country Chase at Cheltenham.
Gordon Elliott’s runner made his seasonal reappearance in the Boyne Hurdle at Naas last weekend and is on course for the Cross Country once again, where he will be bidding for a hat-trick in the 3m6f contest.
Tiger Roll is now rated at 171 over fences so there could be strong claims to be made for him to take his chance in the Cheltenham Gold Cup this year. It is the most unique contest of the week that his connections are aiming to win again though, where he is 6/4* in the betting for the race which takes place on day two of the Festival.
Native River
No horse since Golden Miller in 1934 has won the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National in the same year, so Native River could be bidding to achieve something very special this year.
The 2018 Gold Cup winner looked right back to his best in the Denman Chase at Newbury earlier this month, scoring for the second straight race at Grade One level.
Colin Tizzard’s runner has proved he has the stamina for the marathon races as he won the Welsh Grand National at Chepstow in 2016. He has been handed 11st-6lb for the Aintree contest where he is second best in the ante-post betting at 8/1*.
Magic Of Light
Magic Of Light ran a huge race in the 2019 Grand National, finishing second behind Tiger Roll at odds of 66/1. Jessica Harrington’s runner is set to return to Merseyside once again in April where she will be looking to go one place better.
The nine-year-old mare is arguably seeking to complete the most unique double across the two meetings as she has an entry in the Cheltenham Close Brothers Hurdle, which is a race for mares over 2m4f.
The Irish horse has been in good form this season as she has been successful over hurdles and fences. Her most notable win came in the Grade Two Mares’ Hurdle at Ascot where she scored by just under five lengths.
Harrington’s mare is clearly very durable but given how well she negotiated the bigger fences at Aintree in 2019, she will have plenty of supporters at 16/1* for the world’s most famous steeplechase.
Anibale Fly
Anibale Fly has featured in the last two runnings of the Cheltenham Gold Cup and Grand National and his record in both of those races is excellent.
Tony Martin’s runner was third in the 2018 Gold Cup and then came home fourth at Aintree a month later. He went one place better in the 2019 Blue Riband event at the Festival, finishing 2½ lengths behind Al Boum Photo.
The Irish horse tends to stay on strongly at the back end of his races when many of his rivals have had enough. He should once again be in contention in both of his contests this year where he is a big player.
*Odds subject to change.
