The hugely-successful niche Johnny Murtagh is carving out for himself at the centre of a new training operation can be emphasised once again at the Curragh tomorrow when Foxtrot Romeo lines up in the Group Three feature.
With his reputation assured as one of Ireland's most successful ever jockeys, Murtagh's role at the HQ yard he owns, training the string of English businessman Andrew Tinkler alongside Tommy Carmody, is becoming ever more significant.
Certainly the momentum of Royal Diamond’s Irish Leger win last year has shown no signs of stopping with Sweet Lightning winning the Lincoln a couple of weeks ago and the French import Rich Coast sluicing up at Cork since.
Foxtrot Romeo is the latest recruit to the 35-strong yard and can make an immediate impression in the Big Bad Bob Gladness Stakes. On a day when the 2011 Dewhurst winner Parish Hall makes his first start in 547 days in the Listed Alleged Stakes,
Foxtrot Romeo's
readiness after a lengthy absence will also be interesting although there were encouraging signs on that score during his seven race career for Brian Smart.
He did win on his very first start as a juvenile, and ran the best race of his career so far on his first run last year when runner-up to Power in the Curragh Guineas. That indicates better ground won't be an issue and the transformative abilities of Murtagh & Co are to be reckoned with.
Nephrite represents Ballydoyle but hasn’t run in a year and may like cut in the going, a comment that also applies to Yellow Rosebud while the Meydan heroine Lily’s Angel has it to do on figures.
Parish Hall faces five in the Alleged, including Steps To Freedom who comes here on the back of an easy Dundalk win. He has the edge of race fitness, but Jim Bolger's string have already proved they are sharp and it looks significant that he is persevering with his former Dewhurst hero.
Bolger's
Hudson's Bay
sports first-time cheek-pieces in the three-year-old maiden for his first start of 2013 and is preferred to the Ballydoyle pair, Ruler Of The World and Plinth.
Falcon to soar
Aidan O'Brien unveils the Oasis Dream newcomer Coach House in the two-year-old race but the sole runner with experience,
Highland Falcon
, can progress from his course and distance debut behind Saburo.
Today's Navan card is obviously over-shadowed by Liverpool but it does feature a Grade Two event in the €37,500 Webster Cup which looks to provide Call The Police with an ideal combination of quickening ground and two and a half miles.
Davy Russell is ruled out of the National and has to remain at home where the going could help the champion jockey work out a winning solution to the novice chase with Dylan Ross .
Russell will be at Limerick tomorrow for the Grade Two Hugh McMahon Chase where he teams up with Tofino Bay, agonisingly beaten half a length by Back In Focus in the four-mile National Hunt Chase at Cheltenham.
That looked a very hard race and ground conditions don't look like being in Tofino Bay's favour either. In the circumstances, the course winner Argocat can successfully step up to three miles.
Ruby Walsh rides a couple of talented mares tomorrow and while Upsie is fancied in the mares race, Unika La Reconce could find Moscow Mannon too good in the novice.
