IT IS A quarter of a century since Ireland last hit the mark in the Prix Du Jockey Club but Dermot Weld and Pat Smullen are hoping to bridge that French Derby gap with Famous Name at Chantilly tomorrow at the start of what could be a momentous classic week.
An official green light from owner Walter Haefner for an attempt by Casual Conquest on next Saturday's Epsom Derby is still awaited ahead of Monday's supplementary stage but Chinese White does look set to take up the challenge of Friday's Oaks.
With Winchester also being kept in reserve for the Irish Derby, 2008 already looks like having provided Weld and Smullen with a vintage crop of three-year-old talent.
Confirmation of that at the highest level has yet to be seen but Famous Name looks to have secured something like his favoured soft ground conditions for tomorrow's €1.5 million feature at Chantilly after taking his place in a final maximum field of 20 runners.
Heavy rain during the week means an outlook of "good to soft" going for France's premier Classic is being forecast by officials. That is good news for the Weld team who took Famous Name out of last weekend's Irish 2,000 Guineas due to fast conditions at the Curragh.
However, Weld said yesterday: "I believe it is drying out quite quickly so a few showers would help us. Our other problem is that he is in stall 17 and no horse has won the Derby from 17 or higher. The plus point is that the horse himself is in super order."
Also in the race is Aidan O'Brien's runner Achill Island (Johnny Murtagh) who will be making his second trip to Paris this year. Achill Island beat only one home in a race at Longchamp last month but did better subsequently when third in the Dee Stakes at Chester.
There will be an unusual element with the 1,000 Guineas winner, Natagora, taking on the colts under her new jockey Frankie Dettori. Natagora's regular rider, Christophe Lemaire, is committed to High Rock and Dettori was snapped up when Godolphin's intended starter, Ibn Khaldun, was pulled out lame yesterday morning.
No filly has won the French Derby since 1900 but Dettori has a fine record in the race having won it three times. The champion French trainer Andre Fabre will be triple-handed in the Jockey Club, including the Seán Mulryan-owned Thewayyouare.
Smullen will also be in big race action on the Chantilly under-card with his old ally Benbaun who returns to France for the Group Two Prix Du Gros-Chene having landed the Prix Du l'Abbaye at Longchamp last October.
Murtagh will don the John Magnier colours in the Group Two Grand Prix de Chantilly when he rides Noble Prince who is trained by Fabre. He faces a tough task, however, against Zambezi Sun and Doctor Dino.
The flat action at Listowel tomorrow is not in the same league but there isn't a horse at Chantilly or anywhere else in the world better bred than David Wachman's newcomer in the opening mile maiden.
Tingling is a daughter of the recently retired Storm Cat and the great race mare Bosra Sham and she carries the Michael Tabor colours that will also be carried in the race by Woodlark.
Callow Lake's chances of getting two and a half miles will be helped by the ground and the track while My Valley looks one for Barry Geraghty.
Aine puts her unbeaten record on the line at Haydock
THE TOMMY STACK-trained Aine will attempt to maintain her unbeaten record at Listed level at Haydock this afternoon when she runs in the Timeform Silver Salver Stakes.
Wayne Lordan travels to the Lancashire track to team up with the three-year-old who sprang a 16 to 1 surprise on her Tipperary debut last month and followed up in a handicap at Navan.
Stack gives her a black type chance in today's six-furlong race in which the British champion jockey Ryan Moore teams up with David Elsworth's Sakhee's Song.
Also in the home team is Jeremy Noseda's Perfect Polly and Quiet Elegance whose Irish jockey, Willie Supple, will travel to Chantilly tomorrow for the ride on the former Nunthorpe winner Reverence in the Prix Du Gros-Chene.
David Wachman sends a pair of beautifully bred fillies to this afternoon's home meeting at Tramore but the forecast fast ground might result in Fine Design having to give best to Sufad in the 14-furlong maiden.
Fine Design is by Sadler's Wells out of the English and Irish Oaks winner Ramruma but she has hardly lived up to her breeding and was beaten by Carbonia at Wexford on her last start.
She has also never faced ground as quick as what will be on offer today and Sufad's proven ability to act on it could swing it his way.
Wachman's Polka Dot, a daughter of Galileo, broke her own duck at Clonmel and is 9lb higher in the ratings for today's mile and a half handicap as a result. An extra two furlongs will be no problem to her and neither should the ground.
Kharsya is owned by the Aga Khan's daughter, Princess Zahra, and she should break her own duck in the mile and a half maiden despite having been an odds on failure at Clonmel last time.
