RACING: The chances of a showdown between racing's ruling body and the trainers' association increased yesterday with the confirmation that Leopardstown's evening fixture on Saturday week will go ahead.
The board of Horse Racing Ireland met yesterday and confirmed their decision to make the meeting an evening rather than afternoon fixture.
"They have reaffirmed their position taken in April time when they asked the various parties to support it.
"There has been on-going consultation and there is appreciation of the difficulties trainers have. But this is an experimental fixture," the HRI chief executive Brian Kavanagh said.
Afterwards the Irish Racehorse Trainers' Association chairman Willie Mullins repeated the call to his members not to make entries for the controversial fixture.
The trainers object to it on the basis of staffing issues and the fear that it will be the first of a new pattern of Saturday evening meetings.
"We have asked people not to make entries and I imagine we will be sticking to that. We have put our case forward. We want it put back to a day meeting and then we can talk about the future," Mullins said.
The opening exchanges in the betting for the Budweiser Irish Derby began yesterday, with the Epsom Derby hero, High Chaparral, put in an 8 to 13 favourite to double up at the Curragh.
The main focus at this morning's forfeit stage will be whether or not the French Derby runner-up, Act One, is confirmed as a likely runner or not.
Cashmans take the view that the Jonathon Pease-trained colt will take his chance and the grey is a clear 2 to 1 second favourite.
One horse that is likely to take his chance is the unheralded Richard Hannon-trained Nysaean, who finished last in York's Glasgow Stakes in May but then won at Chepstow. He has been made a 20 to 1 shot.
Cashmans bet: 8-13 High Chaparral, 2-1 Act One, 12 In Time's Eye, 20 Nysaean, 25 Ballingarry, 33 Della Francesca.
There is a seven-race card at Tramore this evening when Paul Carberry could be the jockey to follow over the jumps.
He rides Brief Dance in the opener and Carberry is just the man to halt a run of two falls in the horse's last two starts.
Significantly he also takes the ride on Mykon Gold in the handicap chase. The Hourigan runner managed only third at Ballinrobe last time but is in on a low weight this time.
The same weight comment can be made for Trimilki in the fourteen furlong handicap, a race Colm O'Donoghue's mount would win at her best.
Tipperary have been forced to cancel the five-furlong race on their card tomorrow after that section of track failed an inspection yesterday morning.
The rest of the track was passed fit for racing but the Tipperary Town & District Traders Handicap has been cancelled.
The maximum number of runners in some races has also been amended, with a total of 16 going to post for the 14 furlong races and there is a limit of 10 runners over seven furlongs.
