His victory at the Cheltenham Festival last March – a third in the cross-country chase and incredibly a fifth at the showpiece meeting overall – showed that he still had the appetite for racing.

However, almost a year on, Gordon Elliott’s stalwart once again finds himself with something to prove having pulled up on his only outing this season at Aintree.

But Tiger Roll tends to reserve his best for the turn of the year, though, and following some respite from the Irish handicapper, he has a more realistic handicap mark.

Tiger Roll, victorious in the 2018 and 2019 Grand Nationals under Davy Russell, lines up at Navan this weekend, though another tilt at the Aintree showpiece is far from certain.

“Hopefully the ground is nice and that should be in his favour,” said Eddie O’Leary of owners Gigginstown House Stud. “He comes to life in the cross-country races and Grand Nationals, things like that, he just doesn’t have the same appetite for normal fences.

“He just doesn’t like normal fences, and it’s Gordon’s ability in getting him back in love with it by hunting him and going cross-country. He loves the cross-country discipline, I think everyone knows that by now. He’ll definitely have a National entry, but if he has a huge weight he won’t go.”

Catterick trainer Phil Kirby’s Top Ville Ben put down a potential Grand National marker when winning Lingfield’s Cazoo Hurdle under Alain Cawley – the horse’s first success since the 2019 Rowland Meyrick Chase at Wetherby.

Tiger Roll returns at Navan with one eye on Cheltenham Festival