Tiger Roll given entry over hurdles at Navan

Gordon Elliott considering handicap contest for dual Grand National winner.

Dual Grand National winner Tiger Roll could return over hurdles at Navan on Saturday.

Trainer Gordon Elliott had been pointing towards the Boyne Hurdle on February 20 for his Aintree hero, but has entered him for the Navan Handicap Hurdle over two and a half miles at the weekend.

The 12-year-old has not run in a handicap hurdle since the 2016 Punchestown Festival, but he has contested the Boyne Hurdle – a Grade Two affair – for the last three seasons, winning in 2019 but finishing down the field in the two subsequent editions.

Tiger Roll famously regained his Glenfarclas Chase crown over Cheltenham’s cross country course when beating Easysland by 18 lengths in March, avenging his 17-length defeat at the hands of that rival in 2020.

However, two runs over regulation fences at Aintree subsequently have yielded little joy and he would be on the comeback trail at Navan, where he is one of 23 entries.

Another notable weekend entry is the Willie Mullins-trained Allaho in Sunday’s Horse & Jockey Hotel Chase at Thurles.

Connections had indicated he could head directly to the Cheltenham Festival after winning the John Durkan Chase at Punchestown last month.

The eight-year-old is one of 10 contenders for the Grade Two heat, with Punchestown fourth Fakir D’oudairies entered by Joseph O’Brien while Elliott has given the option to Samcro and Battleoverdoyen.

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