Grand National faller Saint Are recovers

Saint Are, who was kept overnight at the Aintree racecourse stables after a fall in Saturday’s Randox Health Grand National, has received an upbeat report from his trainer Tom George.

The veteran chaser, placed in the 2015 and 2017 renewals and running for the fifth time in the 4m2f marathon, was brought down at The Chair.

Having initially been treated on the track during the world’s most famous steeplechase, he underwent further assessment at the stables and George offered a positive report on Sunday.

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The Slad-based handler said: “He had a good, comfortable night. They looked after him well at Aintree. His lad stayed up with him and the vets checked him every few hours.

“He’s eaten his breakfast and he’s ready to come home. It’s good news. He walked out brighter this morning. I just think he was a bit shaken.

“He’s feeling good about it and we’re looking forward to getting him home.”

Tiger Roll, who held on to win the race from Pleasant Company in a photo finish for trainer Gordon Elliott, has returned home safely.

Elliott, who saddled the eight-year-old to gain the yard’s second Grand National victory 11 years after scoring with Silver Birch, told Racing UK: “I suppose when you go out in the yard this morning and see all the lads and there’s a bit of a buzz about the place, it starts to sink in a bit.

“I was very, very lucky (with Silver Birch). It was my first year of training and I hadn’t even a winner trained in Ireland at the time. To win a National, I probably thought it was all very easy.

“But now, with all the water that has gone under the bridge and all the ups and downs of the game, to win another one is unbelievable.

“He (Tiger Roll) has come home and he’s a bit tired this morning, but he’s OK, thank God.”

Eight-year-old Tiger Roll, who scored at odds of 10-1 for jockey Davy Russell, has fast become a crowd favourite, having already won the Glenfarclas Cross-Country Chase at Cheltenham, adding to his previous triumphs at Prestbury Park in the Triumph Hurdle and the National Hunt Chase.

“To win three different races at the Cheltenham Festival and then go on and win an English National, it’s just unbelievable. If he never does another thing for us he doesn’t owe us much,” Elliott added.

“He’s a bit of a character and he probably is a real favourite in the yard. All the kids that come in at the weekend, this is the horse they can ride the whole time because he’s so quiet. He starts and stops.”