Royal Rosa Ready For Byrne Bros Cleeve Hurdle Return

Royal Rosa is on course to make his eagerly anticipated reappearance in the £60,000 Byrne Bros Cleeve Hurdle, run at Cheltenham´s Festival Trials Day on Saturday, January 28, with his trainer tipping him to fill the void created by his side-lined stablemate Inglis Drever.

One of the leading lights of Howard Johnson´s yard, the high-class stayer could take in the Grade Two prize ahead of a possible tilt at the Ladbrokes World Hurdle at The Festival, won last year by Inglis Drever.

Johnson confirmed: 'One of mine will run in the Byrne Bros Cleeve Hurdle, and if I can get a racecourse gallop into Royal Rosa, then he´ll run - ground permitting. He wants it a bit on the soft side. He´s fine and he´s not far away.'

Last year marked the first running of the prestigious Grade Two race as a three-mile contest, having previously been run over two and a half miles when it was won by star hurdlers such as Large Action, Lady Rebecca and Champion Hurdler victor Flakey Dove.

Royal Rosa will be making his seasonal debut in the Byrne Bros Cleeve Hurdle for the second successive season. The seven-year-old came home seventh behind the Sue Smith-trained Patriarch Express in a typically thrilling renewal last term.

The Graham Wylie-owned gelding subsequently ran third behind Crystal D´Ainay at Kempton Park in February before his campaign was curtailed.

Johnson commented: 'He was third in the Rendlesham at Kempton where he got a bit of a leg. The track was too sharp for him there. He had a hole in his tendon but he´s had stem cell treatment and he´s good now.'

Royal Rosa proved himself a top novice in 2004 with a defeat of subsequent Royal & SunAlliance Hurdle winner Fundamentalist at Haydock and a second to Ladbrokes World Hurdle victor Iris´s Gift at Aintree.

Johnson revealed: 'He´s hopefully my fill-in with Inglis Drever being off but it all depends on the ground for Royal Rosa. He doesn´t want quick ground.'

Despite the absence of Inglis Drever through injury, the County Durham handler has a strong team for the staying division, with last season´s Royal & SunAlliance Novices´ Hurdle hero No Refuge and JCB Triumph Hurdle third Akilak also potential contenders for the Byrne Bros Cleeve Hurdle.

'Akilak could go for the Byrne Bros Cleeve Hurdle but he runs in the Lanzarote Hurdle at Carlisle tomorrow and it depends on how he runs as to whether he goes. It may come too quick for him. 'No Refuge is well and, if Royal Rosa runs, then he´ll probably go to Lingfield next weekend instead.'

This year´s Byrne Bros Cleeve Hurdle marks the sixth year that Byrne Bros, a leading concrete frame contractor, has sponsored the prestigious contest.

The Byrne Bros Cleeve Hurdle is one of the highlights of the Festival Trials Day staged on Saturday, January 28, which features the £80,000 Letheby & Christopher Chase and the £110,000 Victor Chandler Chase which is on loan from Ascot.

The high-class seven-race card carries total prize money of £386,000 - a record for the day.