The majority of horse racing fans believe Tiger Roll should run in this year's Grand National, a new poll commissioned by Paddy Power has revealed.
Michael O'Leary claimed last week that the two-time winner of the race would not go for a third National success and attempt to equal Red Rum’s record because of the rating given to him by British Horseracing Authority chief handicapper Martin Greenwood.
But an extraordinary 92% of Irish race fans want to see the thoroughbred take on the famous fences like Becher’s Brook on April 9 at Aintree.
And almost the same number of British fans (90%) want to see the Irish raider attempt the history-making feat too.
Ryanair boss O'Leary, whose horses run under his Gigginstown House Stud banner, issued a statement last week criticising Greenwood, describing his rating of 161 for Tiger Roll as “absurd”.
His statement read: “Tiger Roll is now 12 years old, He is clearly not as good as he was at eight or nine, and yet the UK handicapper now rates him 2lb higher than his 159 rating in April 2019, when he won both the Boyne Hurdle and the Aintree Grand National.
“This rating is absurd, and unfair on a 12-year-old chaser. It is a pity that the handicapper won’t give Tiger Roll either a fair rating or a fair weight in the Aintree Grand National, where he could at least try to emulate Red Rum’s three wins.
“However, the handicapper sets the weights and even if he is manifestly wrong in the case of Tiger Roll, there is nothing we can do about it other than remove him from the race, since we don’t believe it is fair or safe to ask him to carry close to top weight at the age of 12.
“Since the top two horses in the handicap won’t run in Aintree this year, Tiger Roll will have to carry either 11st 8lb or 11st 9lb at the age of 12, which is three years after he carried 11st 5lb at the age of nine to win the great race in April 2019.
“Since we are responsible for the welfare of Tiger Roll, we must protect him from the idiotic opinion of this handicapper. We therefore regret to announce that he will not run in the year’s Aintree Grand National.
“Instead Tiger Roll will be trained for the cross country race in Cheltenham and there is every likelihood that win, lose or draw, this will be his last racecourse appearance.
“He will then return home for his well-earned retirement here in Gigginstown for the rest of his days.
“It’s sadly clear from his ratings that this handicapper doesn’t want Tiger Roll to run in this year’s Grand National, he won’t give him a fair chance and sadly the race will be poorer for his absence.”
Meanwhile, when UK followers of the sport were asked who they would prefer to see turn up at the showstopper, 55% admit they would rather see Tiger Roll there ahead of Queen Elizabeth (36%), with Boris Johnson and Bono tied at 5%.
When the Irish racing public were asked whether they felt O’Leary was right to prevent Tiger Roll from racing in the Grand National, only 28% supported his decision.
However, an overwhelming 45% believe he is ‘throwing his toys out of the pram because he didn’t get the weight he wanted for his horse’.
The remaining 27% were on the fence.
Asked who they’d rather see take on the famous fences at Aintree personally, the vast majority of Irish race fans opted for O’Leary (63%) as opposed to the British Handicapper (37%) - further illustrating who the public blame for denying them the sight of Tiger Roll conquering the iconic obstacles of the Grand National.
Meanwhile, with the BHA set to produce new rules of conduct, 43% of racegoers believe that O’Leary is odds on to get into trouble with the organisation once they are published, with only 25% believing that he’ll avoid a clash.
“We all know that budget airline boss Michael O’Leary has a bee in his bonnet when it comes to carrying extra hand luggage, so it’s little wonder he threw an absolute wobbler when the British handicapper gave his horse more weight to carry than his owner had hoped,” a spokesperson for Paddy Power said.
They added: “While on the face of it, it appeared the public were divided about his decision, our poll reveals that just 28% of horse racing fans support Michael O’Leary’s stance.”
The poll was carried out on behalf of Paddy Power by Bounce Insights and reflects a sample size of 1,522 members of the public who identified themselves as horse racing followers across the UK & Ireland.
PADDY POWER TIGER ROLL SPECIALS
6/1 Tiger Roll to run in the Grand National in 2022
33/1 Tiger Roll run in the Grand National in 2023
1/4 Tiger Roll be retired after 2022 Cheltenham Festival
2/1 Michael O’Leary to have an English Grand National winner in 2022
5/2 Tiger Roll to win the Cross Country Chase at Cheltenham 2022
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