Pat Smullen back on board Sole Power at the Curragh

Pat Smullen hopes to successfully renew old acquaintances with Sole Power when the champion jockey rides Ireland's former Horse of Year for the first time in almost five years at the Curragh on Saturday.

Sole Power returns to the minimum five furlong trip for the Group Two Kilfrush Sapphire Stakes just a week after finishing out of the money in Newmarket’s July Cup.

Chris Hayes rode him on that occasion and is on G Force this time but Sole Power ran better than it initially looks in bare form terms having been seriously hampered as he was launching his challenge.

He faces a major cross-channel challenge here, especially in the shape of the Nunthorpe heroine Mecca’s Angel.

She ran in the Sapphire a year ago when ground conditions turned marginally too quick and she was edged out of by Stepper Point.

Smullen rode the winner on that occasion and if the going dries out it will suit Sole Power and perhaps inconvenience Mecca’s Angel again.

Smullen can also strike in the Scurrys aboard the Wokingham seventh, Spring Loaded, but Ger Lyons may dominate on the juvenile front with Psychedelic Funk in the Anglesey and the auspiciously named Frankel newcomer in the opener, Lightening Fast.

The colt is a daughter of Lightening Pearl who provided Lyons with his sole Group One success to date in the Cheveley Park Stakes. He is also Frankel’s first runner in Ireland.