Booster set for Ascot return

Champion hurdler Rooster Booster could make his seasonal debut at Ascot next week if the ground is suitable.

Trainer Philip Hobbs would prefer to run the grey at the Berkshire track rather than wait for the Pertemps ‘Fighting Fifth’ Hurdle at Newcastle the following week.

“He is entered in a two-and-a-half mile race at Ascot (Pricewaterhousecoopers Ascot Hurdle) on Friday week, although the ground would have to be right for him. He wants it good or good to soft really,” said Hobbs.

“The thing is that it would just make things a lot easier. The Fighting Fifth is on the same day as the Hennessy and I don’t want to make Richard (Johnson) have to choose between the two – it might just be less hassle.

“The other thing is that it is only two weeks between the Fighting Fifth and the Bula Hurdle, which is really going to be his first main target.

“I am sure that he gets two and a half miles all right. I think he would have won at Aintree if Richard hadn’t dropped his whip.”

Rooster Booster’s last public performance was in the Martell Cognac Aintree Hurdle when he was beaten a head by Sacundai, three and a half weeks after his finest hour at Cheltenham when he took the Smurfit Champion Hurdle by 11 lengths from Westender.