Kieren Fallon will be in action in France tomorrow as Aidan O'Brien significantly steps up his Classic preparations with trial runners in three countries this weekend.
Marcus Andronicus gets the ball rolling in today's Group Three Lane's End Greenham Stakes at Newbury where Allexina is also a runner for John Oxx in the Group Three John Porter Stakes.
The Kingmambo newcomer Soar With Eagles is a starter in the concluding maiden at Newbury but the Ballydoyle team will really hit overdrive tomorrow with five runners at Longchamp and a pair of starters in the Group Three PW McGrath Ballysax Stakes at Leopardstown.
That has been the kick-off point for the Classic careers of the likes of Galileo, High Chaparral, Sinndar and Alamshar in recent years, but it will be Seamus Heffernan who will be in charge of the Ballydoyle number one, Mountain, who takes on five opponents at the Dublin track.
Fallon has elected to go to Paris where he will ride Aussie Rules in the Group Three Prix de Fontainebleau alongside his stable companion Ivan Denisovich (Colm O'Donoghue.) Landseer ran third in the mile race before going on to win the French Guineas in 2002.
Fallon will be on board the Beresford winner Septimus in the Prix la Force over 10 furlongs where O'Donoghue will ride Poseidon Adventure. The former champion jockey will also ride the filly Queen Cleopatra in the Prix de la Grotte, a race O'Brien won with Sophisticat four years ago.
The Ballydoyle battalions have been comparatively slow to hit winning form this season and O'Brien said yesterday: "None of the colts have won yet and I think the horses that run this weekend will all improve for their races. But they are all ready for a race."
Whether the Ballysax comes up to the level of some previous years is debatable but Mountain will still be an interesting starter.
The Montjeu colt looked far from straightforward last year but is reported to have wintered very well. He is a Derby outsider in the ante-post betting but with the O'Brien team still to click into form it could pay to side instead tomorrow with the sole filly in the race Jioconda.
Common World was a wide-margin winner of the Gladness Stakes but tomorrow's Heritage Stakes may see Indesatchel reverse placings. Last year's French Guineas runner-up looked a winner at the Curragh for much of the race and clearly will come on for the run.
Ruby Walsh can extend his lead over Barry Geraghty in the jockeys' title race at Sligo tomorrow when he teams up withMichael Halford's Masamiyr.
