No regrets at selling Tiger Roll, says Hawke

Hawke, who won the National aboard Seagram in 1991, paid just £10,000 for the son of Epsom Derby winner Authorized at Doncaster Sales in the summer of 2013.

He saddled him to win his first-ever race, a juvenile hurdle at Market Rasen, in November of that year.

The Devon-based trainer made a significant profit on his investment when Tiger Roll went under the hammer for £80,000 at the Brightwells Cheltenham Sale the following month, with Mags O’Toole the successful bidder on behalf of Gigginstown House Stud who sent him to Gordon Elliott to train.

Hawke said: “I obviously watched the race on Saturday and there was nobody cheering louder than me. I remember when we sold him I told Gigginstown I felt he could be a Cheltenham horse, either for the Fred Winter or the Triumph Hurdle and he obviously went on to win the Triumph.

“I won’t pretend I thought he might win a cross country and a Grand National, but as I was saying to someone the other day, this horse always had a jump in him. I remember after we bought him there was talk of running him in a three-year-old bumper, but he was such a natural from the day we started schooling him that we said we’d go straight over hurdles. At least I can say I found a Grand National winner and the money we made from Tiger Roll helped us buy other horses like Speredek.”