THE 2011 Irish flat jockeys championship is over, but the main protagonists, Johnny Murtagh and Pat Smullen, are on international duty this weekend. Murtagh hopes to win a first Group One pot in Japan tomorrow, writes Brian O'Connor.
The new champion jockey teams up with his Epsom Oaks heroine Dancing Rain in the Queen Elizabeth Cup at Kyoto, where last year’s winner, Snow Fairy, is the other international raider.
Snow Fairy has been handed a wide 18 of 18 draw, and Dancing Rain has also been boxed wide in 14. But her trainer, Willie Haggas, isn’t concerned, and played down a midweek scare when Dancing Rain was found to have heat in her legs.
“She is in good form and the track here is great, so there’s no excuse for her not doing well. As for her racing style, she likes to gallop, but she doesn’t have to always be in the front,” added Haggas.
Murtagh has ridden top-flight winners in seven countries, but has yet to hit the Group One mark in Japan.
Snow Fairy will be ridden by Ryan Moore, who guided her to success in the 11-furlong race in 2010.
Smullen is closer to home in Paris this afternoon where he teams up with France-based Irishman Eoghan O’Neill for the filly Madam Blanche in the Group One Criterium de Saint-Cloud.
Winner of her last start in Bordeaux, Madam Blanche is part of an eight-runner field for the 10-furlong €250,000 event which was won by Aidan O’Brien’s Recital last year.
Godolphin’s Longchamp winner Mandaean, trained by Andre Fabre, is a likely favourite, and the sole overseas raider is the Charlie Hills trained Letsgoroundagain.
