Quevega prepares for Cheltenham

Willie Mullins' classy mare Quevega is back in full training ahead of her bid to secure back-to-back successes in the David Nicholson Mares' Hurdle at Cheltenham in March.

The six-year-old was a brilliant winner of the Grade Two contest last season and although she has been out of action since last May, Mullins is not concerned about the lengthy absence.

"Quevega is now back in full training," the trainer told his blog on www.hri.ie.

"The cold snap has allowed us to spend a bit of time moving horses around to where they need to be and it's great to have her back with us.

"She has been doing plenty of slow hacking with my former head girl Tracey Gilmore, who runs her own pre-training yard these days, and the hope was that we would be able to get stuck into her now.

"Obviously, that's going to be difficult the way things are at the moment, but sending her straight to Cheltenham wouldn't unduly worry me."