Racing fans here have been waiting 50 days for this afternoon, when the sport resumes at Leopardstown and Cork despite the recent foot-and-mouth outbreaks in Northern Ireland.
The immediate effect of the unwelcome developments in the North will be an even greater concentration on the disease precautions that will have been taken at both tracks.
These will include a pass through a disinfectant bath or mat for each racegoer and vehicle entering, while horseboxes will be power-washed. The Turf Club chief executive, Brian Kavanagh, said yesterday: "Even before the extra outbreaks in the North, the Department of Agriculture had told us these measures were not just for show and all trainers and racetracks have been made aware of that. The procedures will be strictly enforced."
At Leopardstown, entrance to the racecourse will be confined to the Ballyogan gate and the main gate on the Leopardstown Road. A large crowd is sure to assemble for the welcome, eight-race fixture after a period when an estimated £10 million in ontrack betting turnover was lost.
It may seem strange to spend Easter Monday examining adolescent classic prospects rather than hard-bitten steeplechasers, but at least there will be no question about the team to follow.
Aidan O'Brien and Mick Kinane are intent on making up for lost time and look set for a spectacular score of five winners, including the three black type races.
Such bold predictions usually come undone, but O'Brien looks set to continue the numerical dominance of the home scene that saw him saddle 71 winners last season and 101 in 1999. Both totals also resulted in a win ratio of over 30 per cent. But it will not be just for a domestic market that Galileo makes his eagerly awaited second start in the Ballysax Stakes.
This was the race where Sinndar was edged out by Grand Finale last year, and Galileo is already a 12 to 1 second favourite with Ladbrokes for the Epsom Derby on the strength of an impressive, 14-length winning debut on the track last year and sky high expectations from Ballydoyle.
Mozart, not beaten far in the Dewhurst, has been impressing in his home gallops and looks well clear of his four opponents in the 2,000 Guineas Trial, while Imagine is hard to oppose in the 1,000 Trial.
Pebble Island has never run, but O'Brien is already talking in terms of him being a Derby horse. If that's the case, the 10 furlong maiden should be a doddle. The Danehill colt Landseer can reopen the sport by winning the juvenile maiden.
Down at Cork, there is also some potential classic interest as Kings County makes his threeyear-old debut against just three in the Mallow Race. Runner-up in three Group Ones last season, Kings County should use this as just a light warm-up for the French 2,000.
The two-year-old maiden should also go to Ballydoyle courtesy of the Danehill filly Alstemeria, while the remarkably improved Mr Red Banner is selected to defy topweight and score a second Cork success in the handicap hurdle.
