After such a successful Royal Ascot for horses trained here, the Irish influence will be felt even further afield this weekend as Dermot Weld and Aidan O'Brien seek Group One glory on two continents.
Weld has sent his Stakes winner Jammaal to Singapore for the $800,000 Emirates Singapore Derby, a race that will be run this morning. The Irish champion jockey Pat Smullen has taken the long flight east to take the ride on the Hamdan Al Maktoum-owned colt.
Tomorrow, O'Brien will be doubly represented in the Grand Prix de Paris at Longchamp where Mick Kinane has elected to ride Bonnard in preference to the unbeaten Hans Anderson who will have Jamie Spencer in the saddle.
The Ballydoyle duo will have just three rivals including Chichicastenango and Okawango who were placed in the French Derby. Richard Hughes rides the other runner, Mizzen Mist.
The domestic action today features the £50,000 Ulster Harp Derby where Weld will be hoping Ansar can emulate last year's winner Media Puzzle.
The runner-up on that occasion, Common Kris, will be fancied to go one better but in a field of exposed handicappers, the one possible blot could be the John Oxx-trained Masilia.
One run at Doncaster at two was all the experience the Kahyasi filly had before easily scoring at Clonmel last month and a line through Direct Bearing and Dark Trojan suggests Masilia has not been harshly treated on an 85 mark.
John Murtagh will be at his lowest to do 8-7 but was in red hot form at Ascot and comes here on the 28 winner mark for the season which puts him level with Kinane. Masilia could be the type of unexposed filly that Murtagh and Oxx excel with.
Oxx, Murtagh and the Aga Khan should also be on the mark in the last with Badriya while another rider to follow could be Pat Shanahan who has good-looking ammunition with Fair McLain and Ciara Flyer.
Kinane's presence at Longchamp tomorrow allows the good apprentice Paul Scallan to get the ride on Twentytwoandchange in the opener at Gowran and the O'Brien colt looks a bet to repel the strong representation from the Bolger and Weld yards.
Twentytwoandchange was a disappointing odds-on favourite behind Jassas at Cork but was slowly into his stride that day and looked as if the six furlong trip might also be too short. Throw in the improvement the Ballydoyle horses are showing for a run and Scallan's mount can defeat the main Bolger runner Splanc.
Most focus in the mile and six handicap will probably be on the Pat Hughes-trained Smasakhan who comes here on the back of a good hurdles success at Navan.
The bumper has been divided and the best bet could be in the first part where Ike, a decent third to Golden Hop over the course and distance last month, looks the one to beat.
