Seamus Heffernan will ride Derby second favourite Galileo at Leopardstown on Sunday. The unbeaten Aidan O'Brien-trained colt, as low as 6 to 1 for the Derby, has his Epsom warm up in the Group Three Derrinstown Trial and with Michael Kinane on duty at Longchamp, Heffernan has been given the responsibility on Galileo.

Kinane will have a busy day in France on Sunday where he will partner the Athasi runnerup, Rose Gypsy, in the French 1,000 Guineas, Milan in the Prix Lupin and King's County in the French 2,000 Guineas.

O'Brien will be triple handed in the colt's Classic as Black Minnaloushe (Jamie Spencer) and the Tetrarch winner, Modigliani (Paul Scallan), will join King's County.

Unusually the Ballydoyle team are not represented in today's Listed race at Cork, the six-furlong sprint, but Kinane rides the highest-rated horse in the race, Conormara.

The David Hanley runner is rated 1lb better than Sparkling Harmony but gets 7lb, yet the form being shown by Dermot Weld's horses mean the Gladness runner-up will still be a hard nut to crack.

This evening's other fixture is at Navan which sees an even greater Ballydoyle representation. Apprentice Paul Scallan is on the Storm Cat colt Norway in the mile maiden but this one will have his work cut out against Alexander Express.

Meanwhile, it has been confirmed that Leopardstown racecourse will close due to work on the next stage of the M50 ring road but the exact date of the closure, and for how long, remains unclear.

It appears the track will operate as normal until, at least, after the Champion Stakes in September but the future after that is less certain and racecourse officials could not be definite yesterday about the traditional Christmas festival meeting going ahead this year.

"No one knows when this will happen but the track will be closed for a while. We are negotiating with Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown council as to when it will happen. As we are both a Flat and National Hunt rrack, no time is a good time to close down," said the Leopardstown manager, Matt O'Dwyer, yesterday.

The issue is complicated by legal disputes between Leopardstown racecourse and Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown council that are still on going.