Tiger Roll would struggle in Gold Cup despite lofty rating, says Elliott
(The Guardian Sports News)

Dual National winner `not a match for top-class runners´ Elliott may run popular horse in Punchestown Gold CupTiger Roll is not a Gold Cup horse, despite the lofty rating he now has, according to the man who knows him best. Gordon Elliott, who has trained the enormously popular little horse to land a string of big races over the last six years, said on Tuesday that Tiger Roll´s liking for unusual race conditions helped make him hard to beat in races like the cross-country at Cheltenham and the Grand National, while still leaving him well short of Gold Cup standard.`For me if he ran in a Gold Cup, I don´t think he´d go out on the last circuit,` said Elliott, apparently suggesting his stable star would be unable to keep tabs on top-class three-milers over normal steeplechase fences. `I know his rating suggests he should be bang there and hopefully I´m wrong but I just think he loves doing different things and jumping different types of fences.` Continue reading...