Aidan O'brien's Breeders' Cup team, headed by Galileo, will have a spin round Southwell on Wednesday in preparation for the meeting at Belmont Park next month.
Galileo, the dual Derby and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Diamond Stakes hero, goes for the Breeders' Cup Classic at the New York track on October 27th.
Accompanying the champion three-year-old colt to the Nottinghamshire circuit will be other stars from O'Brien's Ballydoyle team including Mozart (Breeders' Cup Sprint), King Charlemagne (Sprint or Mile) and Black Minnaloushe (Mile or Classic).
O'Brien used Southwell's Fibresand surface last autumn to give his 2000 Breeders' Cup team, headed by subsequent Classic runner-up Giant's Causeway, vital experience on dirt.
The weekend racing in Ireland provides a story of two racecourses that have been plagued by very different weather conditions. It would be hard to recall any occasion when Listowel would have offered continuous good to firm ground over the duration of its festival.
As a consequence, the fields have been decimated over the last couple of days, including such debacles as 23 runners and reserves in a maiden hurdle being sliced down to 10 runners, with the three major fancies all defecting.
In contrast, Punchestown was knocked out of action last October by torrential rain which overpowered its mole drainage system, washed out its spring festival and only now is it raceworthy for its first meeting in 2001.
No one could begrudge Montpellier Street success in the Carlsberg Handicap at Listowel. Runner-up in his last three races, he has been beaten a head, a neck and half a length for three prizes that were in aggregate worth £108,000 to the winner.
A saving bet could be justifiably speculated on Fast And Furious, as he gave 1lb and a neck beating to Montpellier Street at Killarney in July and now meets the loser on 12lb better terms.
John Kiely profited from the absentees yesterday when his Namibia, who was only a reserve, got a winning run in the Harp Lager Handicap. Today the stable can have a jumping winner in the Kerry Petroleum Chase with Tralee winner Sparkling Gold improving on his subsequent fourth at Galway to Rash Decision.
At Punchestown tomorrow Mirpour is napped to beat Hot Trotter in the EBF 2-Y-O Maiden in which she can supply the first leg of a Sunday double for John Oxx. Half an hour later Niall McCullagh, standing in for the absent John Murtagh, has another attractive mount in Dear Catch.
The two runners best treated by the weights in the Mongey Communications Rated Hurdle are Barba Papa who will be ridden by Adrian Maguire and Spokesman, the mount of Paul Moloney. The distance and the small field are factors that should play into the hands of Spokesman who likes to come late on the scene and in the right circumstances can knock out the opposition.
John Reid is now considering which direction his life will take following his surprise decision to call it a day as a jockey. Reid, who numbers four British Classics and the 1988 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe among his haul of big race successes, admitted he had been considering standing down from the saddle for some time.
"The time was right I think," he said yesterday. "I've been thinking about it and it's always been a plan of mine to stop around the age of 45," added Reid, who landed five Irish Classics.
