Dual Aintree winner walks out of stalls in Navan racePopular chaser finishes a well-beaten sixth on comebackThe second Flat race of Tiger Roll’s illustrious career is unlikely to rate as even a footnote in future accounts of the dual Grand National winner’s career, as he could finish only sixth in the Flower Hill Maiden Stakes at Navan, having missed the break and raced detached from the rest of the field for the first half-mile of the 14-furlong race.
Having opened in the betting at 10-1, Tiger Roll set off as a 9-1 shot against several rivals with impressive Flat pedigrees. Sam Ewing, a 16-year-old apprentice rider who had earlier said he could not believe that he would be riding “one of the best horses ever”, passed three rivals in the home straight but Tiger Roll never threatened to lose his maiden status on the Flat at the age of 10. Ilmig, a gelding by the outstanding stallion Galileo from Jessica Harrington’s stable, took the spoils from the favourite, Jesse Evans.