The 2020 Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase holds on Friday, November 13 and 9 horses are set to take to the Cheltenham Racecourse there in Cheltenham, England in the event that is open to horses 5 years and above. Tiger Roll is expected to defend its title for the third year in a row as trainer Gordon Elliot seeks his fourth straight Glenfarclas Cross Country Handicap Chase title.
Experts are tipping Tiger Roll to win the race again as the odds clearly seem in his favour. Besides its achievements at the Cross Country Chase, the horse is also a two-time winner at Aintree and would have improved its record to three this year but for the pandemic. This year, Robbie Power would take the place of Keith Donoghue as the horse’s jockey. Donoghue was the one who rode the horse to victory in 2018, its first year at the event, and 2019.
Easyland is another horse that is tipped to bring home the title this year. Earlier this year, in March, Easyland and Tiger Roll squared off at the Cheltenham Festival where Easyland took home the award instead. Easyland has better experience of running on flats and the horse has won 8 other titles since Cheltenham. Easy land is 4 years younger than Tiger Roll, who is 10 years old, and also the second-youngest horse in the race. Easyland would be ridden by J Plouganou.
Potters Corner is another horse in the race with high odds of winning. It is an Irish horse, just like Tiger Roll, trained by Christian Williams and would be jockeyed by Jack Tudor.
Speaking about his horse, trainer Williams had this to say; “Potters Corner is in great form. He schooled well over the cross-country fences at the track a couple of weeks ago. We are targeting the race as we are just trying to give him a different avenue. He’ll be 11 come January, and there are only a certain amount of Nationals you can run in before they take their toll.”
Other horses in the race include Little Bruce, King’s Temptation, Kingswell Theatre, Vino Royale, Vivas, Kings Temptation, and Beau Du Brizais. The Glenfarclas Cross Country Chase has had more Irish winners over the years since the race first started in 2005.
Written by: Leon Osamor