Gifford ready to cash in Rouble

Huntingdon's Boxing Day meeting has been called off, so Josh Gifford is in his garage plucking pheasants instead. A trainer, who has made the feathers fly in a long and successful career, he has a horse in his stable which he tentatively suggests could be his best ever.

Bearing in mind that his former stable stars have included such performers as Deep Sensation and Bradbury Star, it makes you think that Rouble must be something out of the ordinary.

The big, strapping chestnut, who runs in tomorrow's televised Cantor Sport Challow Hurdle (1.15) at Newbury, is on a hat-trick of victories.

Gifford, spitting out a feather, said: "He's a story this horse, right from the day we got him. Owner Pat Betts and I went over to Ireland to see horse dealer Tom Costello with the prospect of buying Skycab, a deal which we completed in 10 minutes.

"Pat then disclosed that one of his good mares had just had a lovely colt foal at the National Stud and Tom, who always like to sell you two or three, said that foal would obviously need a playmate. So, after a couple of scotches or three he took us to a field with six foals in it. Four were by Rozelier, one by something else and the last by Moscow Society. Pat went for the latter because he was the biggest and home we came with two."

The aptly named Rouble looked a real money-spinner after his first success in a 'bumper' (National Hunt Flat race) at Ascot last April but then took time to develop.

Gifford muses: "He should still be unbeaten but perhaps he was looked after too well by his jockeys in four subsequent races because he's such a good horse. Now, that appears to have been a blessing in disguise."

Rouble, however, has a bit of a jockey jinx about him. Jim Culloty rode him when he won over hurdles for the first time at Ascot.