June 25th, 2019 | 
Author: The Grand National will soon be upon us. On the 6th april to be…
Memory Lane – Grand National 2018
The 2018 Grand National was the first renewal of the world famous steeplechase run on heavy ground since 2001, when Red Marauder beat three other finishers, two of whom had been remounted. On this occasion, twelve of the 38 starters completed the course, but those that didn’t included the previous year’s fourth Blaklion, who was brought down at the first, and the well-backed favourite, Total Recall, who lost all chance with a couple of bad blunders on the first circuit and was eventually pulled up before the second last.
In a finish dominated by Irish challengers, perennial Irish champion trainer Willie Mullins went very close to winning with his apparent second string, Pleasant Company, but ultimately it was Tiger Roll, trained by Gordon Elliott, who just held on to win in a dramatic photo finish. The race had looked all over when Tiger Roll swept into a six-length lead at the Elbow, but the diminutive eight-year-old tired close home and, at the line, was all out to hold his rallying rival by a rapidly diminishing head. Irish-trained horses filled the first four places, with Bless The Wings, also trained by Gordon Elliott, 11 lengths away in third and Anibale Fly, trained by Tony Martin, a neck further back in fourth.
Fresh from victory in the Cross Country Chase at the Cheltenham Festival, Tiger Roll was sent off 10/1 joint-second favourite for the National. His victory was a second in three years for owner Michael O’Leary after Rule The World in 2016 and a second for trainer Gordon Elliot after Silver Birch in 2007. Jockey Davy Russell, though, was riding his first Grand National winner after 13 unsuccessful attempts; his previous best finish had been third place on Saint Are, trained by Tom George, in 2017. Russell, the oldest jockey in the race at 38, said afterwards, “I was thinking of all the times my dad used to cut the grass and…I’d make National fences to jump over on my feet in the garden. I won the National a thousand times in the back garden, but never like that!”