British racing’s top jumps handicapper sincerely hopes Tiger Roll goes for a historic third straight Grand National win but says the race weights he allots must be ‘fair for everybody’
British racing’s top jumps handicapper has rebuffed a call from the owners of Tiger Roll, asking for the horse to be given lenient treatment when the weights are set for next year’s Grand National. “You can’t blackmail a system to get him running,” said Martin Greenwood, responding to a suggestion that the horse might not attempt to win the Aintree race for a third time unless his rating was reduced.
Eddie O’Leary, who manages the racing interests of his brother, Michael, said last month: “They say they condense the weights to encourage the good horses to run. If the National isn’t well condensed, Tiger Roll won’t run. If they want him – it’s up to themselves. He will be 11st 10lb. He will obviously be top weight. But if it’s not condensed down enough, he won’t be running. We’ve seen horses condensed 7lb to 9lb before.”
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Goodwood 1.50 Dream Shot 2.20 Wufud 2.55 Pennywhistle (nap) 3.30 Alfaatik 4.05 Areen Heart 4.40 Knight Crusader 5.10 Show Me The Bubbly
Bath 2.00 Delagate This Lord 2.30 Applecros 3.05 Catch The Cuban 3.40 Universal Order 4.15 Spot Lite 4.50 Bungee Jump 5.20 Junoesque
Haydock 2.10 Tomorrow's Angel 2.45 Visible Charm 3.20 Look Out Louis 3.55 Sacred Dance 4.30 Nonchalance 5.00 Jaleel 5.35 Swansdown
Worcester 5.40 Sausalito Sunrise 6.10 Istimraar 6.40 Darcy Ward 7.10 Bold Record 7.40 Sunset Showdown 8.10 Cottonvale (nb) 8.40 Forget Me Knot
Pontefract 6.30 Straight Ash 7.00 Just Wait 7.30 Monoski 8.00 Musharrif 8.30 Never Be Enough 9.00 Qutob