Gigginstown’s Tiger Roll in big demand among Aintree punters – poll

A new poll commissioned by Irish bookmaker Paddy Power reveals that a huge majority of Irish horseracing fans would love to see two-time Aintree Grand National winning racehorse, Tiger Roll, go for a hat-trick.

The Gordon Elliott-trained horse has been controversially denied the opportunity to equal Red Rum’s record in the world’s most famous race, which the Gigginstown House Stud-owned thoroughbred has already won in 2018 and 2019.

Westmeath racehorse owner Michael O’Leary, better known to most as the outspoken boss of budget airline Ryanair, withdrew his charge from the contest following a row with the UK handicapper, believing his horse was given an unfair weight to bear by race organisers.

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.

In fact, putting territorial allegiances aside, almost the same number of British fans (90%) want to see the Irish raider attempt the history-making feat too.

And 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 Mullingar man 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 Michael 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.”