Hobson mapping Festival route for Dame Rose Richard Hobson is looking forward to plotting a route to the Cheltenham Festival with Dame Rose following her runaway victory at Newbury on Saturday. The four-year-old won twice in the bumper sphere last season, including a Grade Two success at Aintree, and comfortably opened her account over hurdles at the first time of asking at Hexham in October. She finished a well-beaten third behind Cap Soleil at Newbury last month, but reversed that form in some style on her return to the Berkshire circuit, claiming Listed honours by upwards of nine lengths. Hobson said: "She's absolutely A1. She's come out of the race bucking and squealing. "We weren't surprised to see her produce the performance she did. She obviously won at Aintree and was good at Hexham and then it was a rush to get her to Newbury because she banged a hind fetlock. "She was in a better frame of mind on Saturday and we were delighted with the way she did it." The Trull House Stud Mares' Novices' Hurdle at Prestbury Park is Dame Rose's likely long-term target, but how she gets there is as yet undecided. "We'll see where we go between now and Cheltenham. There aren't that many opportunities against novice mares, so we might have to take on the boys, which wouldn't worry me, getting the 7lb allowance," Hobson continued. "She's got such a great attitude and takes her races so well, I think she'll definitely run once if not twice before Cheltenham. "The only thing that would worry you about Cheltenham would be whether the ground will be soft enough. If they can produce ground like they do at Aintree, where it's like a carpet, that would be great."
