Rooster Booster's owner Terry Warner still believes that his popular grey can make the frame in the Smurfit Champion Hurdle. He fears, however, that a second victory in next month's Cheltenham feature, which he won in 2003 and was second in last season, may be beyond the 11-year-old.
"I still think he's got a great chance of being in the first four," Warner said yesterday.
"But he'll have a job to beat Hardy Eustace who won it last year, and I think Back In Front will probably win the race. Those would be my selections for the race. We did think of running him in the Kingwell at Wincanton on Saturday but we are now going straight to Cheltenham.
"He'll go there a fresh horse. He loves the hill at Cheltenham and I think he'll still run well in the Champion Hurdle. He's 11 years old now and to ask him to win it is asking a lot but I think he could be in the first three or four."
Warner is not too concerned that Rooster Booster, trained by Philip Hobbs who is on a ski-ing holiday, has yet to win a race this winter.
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