Dobbin lines up a weekend double

Tony Dobbin is hoping that one new partner and one old friend can combine to give him a big race double when Inglis Drever and Monet's Garden head to Cheltenham this weekend.

Inglis Drever remains one of the likelier long shots for next year's Champion Hurdle and, provided there is some give in the ground, Dobbin will replace the injured Graham Lee when Howard Johnson's gelding meets Rooster Booster in the Totesport Bula Hurdle on Saturday.

Dobbin was due to exercise the In The Wings gelding at Johnson's Durham yard today but has already seen enough to suggest the five-year-old has what it takes to make a major impact.

"Some people say he needs further than two miles, but I'm not convinced that's true," he said.

"I remember riding him in work at Carlisle when he first joined Howard. He really impressed me that day and I think he could go right to the top over two miles."

Monet's Garden stamped himself as a stayer to follow when beating a smart field at Windsor last month and his trainer Nicky Richards feels that Saturday's Relkeel Hurdle represents "the ideal next step up the ladder."

He added: "I haven't got his blood tests back yet, but he seems in great fettle and it never hurts to run at Cheltenham before Christmas if you think you have a horse who's good enough to go back there for the Festival."

Sadly, Dobbin's northern colleague Alan Dempsey faces a miserable Christmas and an uncertain start to 2005 after the full extent of the facial injuries he suffered when kicked in a fall at Ayr on Monday emerged.