JIMMY FORTUNE steps in to the Ballydoyle hot-seat this weekend when the Co Wexford-born jockey will be in Group One action in both Britain and France.
Johnny Murtagh’s suspension means Aidan O’Brien has turned to Fortune to ride Rip Van Winkle in Saturday’s Coral Eclipse Stakes at Sandown and also Westphalia in Sunday’s Prix Jean Prat at Chantilly.
It is not the first time that O’Brien has called on Fortune’s services this season. He rode Drumbeat into eighth place in last month’s Prix du Jockey Club.
Westphalia finished third in that French Derby but will step back to a mile for Sunday’s €400,000 French highlight which will be the last three-year-old only Group One prize over a mile in Europe this year.
A total of 21 horses remain in the Jean Prat including the St James’s Palace Stakes third Lord Shanakill and the French hope Naaqoos who was one of the top two-year-olds in Europe in 2008.
Attention before that will be on the Eclipse where Rip Van Winkle will attempt to secure a fifth victory in the prestigious 10-furlong event for O’Brien after Giant’s Causeway (2000), Hawk Wing (2002), Oratorio (2005) and Mount Nelson last year.
Rip Van Winkle has been installed a general 7 to 2 second favourite for the Eclipse behind the odds-on market leader Sea The Stars. O’Brien could run another horse in the race to help guarantee the sort of pace he believes is vital to his number one hope.
“He is versatile in terms of ground, although the better it is, probably the better it is for him. I don’t think the trip is a problem for him either, whether it’s a mile, 10 furlongs or a mile and a half. But he is a horse that will appreciate a nice, even gallop. We think that allows him to show his best,” O’Brien said yesterday.
The home team on Saturday will be led by Michael Stoute’s Breeders’ Cup winner Conduit who warmed up for the Eclipse by being beaten a nose by Cima De Triomphe over the Sandown course in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes.
Conduit is 7lb better off this weekend but Cima De Triomphe, last year’s Italian Derby winner, is back for another crack at him.
“We are hopeful of a good run and he worked nicely over six furlongs this morning,” said his trainer Luca Cumani.
“We are going there hopefully of a good run. But we are under no illusions as to the difficulty of the task against horses like Conduit, Sea The Stars and Rip Van Winkle,” she said.
“It looks like it will be a tough 10 furlongs on Saturday because there will be plenty of pace in the race.”
Jimmy Fortune has picked up both plum Ballydoyle rides on the back of a confidence-boosting Group One success at the Curragh last Saturday aboard Dar Re Mi in the Pretty Polly Stakes.
The John Gosden-trained filly is now set to take part in next month’s Yorkshire Oaks at York.
