AIDAN O'BRIEN will have his first cross-channel runners of 2008 at Newmarket today where the man who won the trainers titles in both Britain and Ireland last year will be represented in the Fielden Stakes by Poet.
The Curragh maiden winner is one of six lining up for the nine-furlong Listed race where Henry Cecil's highly-rated Derby prospect, Kandahar Run, makes his first start of the season.
Poet, however, will have the benefit of winning his maiden at the first Curragh meeting of the year last month and the form of that win has been significantly boosted by the runner-up, Kargali, who subsequently won by a wide margin at Tipperary. "He hasn't done a lot since but he seems to be in good form," said O'Brien yesterday.
The Ballydoyle trainer also runs Tale Of Two Cities in the opening mile-and-a-quarter maiden and the full-brother to the dual-Derby and Breeders' Cup winner High Chaparral will be attempting to make it third time lucky.
Tale Of Two Cities was third on his Cork debut last year behind Red Eye Express but on his only subsequent start he finished last of six in the Group One Criterium de Saint-Cloud in France in November.
O'Brien has entered both The Bogberry and Great Rumpuscat in tomorrow's Craven Stakes at Newmarket and he is also set to be represented by more than one runner in Sunday's Group Three DPW McGrath Ballysax Stakes at Leopardstown.
A total of five of the 11 entries for the Ballysax left in at yesterday's forfeit stage are from Ballydoyle and O'Brien reported: "Alessandro Volta, King Or Rome and Hebridean are all strong possibles for that race."
Alessandro Volta broke his maiden in last October's Eyrefield Stakes at Leopardstown while another son of Montjeu, King Of Rome, ran fifth to Ibn Khaldun in the Racing Post Trophy at Doncaster on his last start.
The Ballysax has seen superstar names such as Galileo and High Chaparral successfully launch their classic campaigns in the past and the other black type race on Sunday will be the Listed Heritage Stakes over a mile.
The French 2,000 Guineas winner Astronomer Royal is among the 10 entries left in the race which has also attracted David Wachman's smart four-year-old Followmyfootsteps.
Leopardstown's ground is currently described as "yielding to soft" and soft in places.
There will be other Irish interest at Cheltenham this evening where Tom Taaffe's Glenfinn Captain will take his chance in the Grade Three handicap chase. Tony McCoy will take the ride on the Irish runner for his boss, JP McManus.
Looking ahead to next week's Punchestown Festival, the former champion hurdler Sublimity will bid to end his season on a high in the ACC Bank Champion Hurdle.
His trainer John Carr said yesterday: "I'm just hoping the ground comes right for him. It is drying up at the minute but there is a lot of rain forecast for Thursday. It shouldn't be as soft as Cheltenham - at least I hope it won't be. Punjabi finished in front of us at Cheltenham but he was ridden for a place I think. If we had ridden for place I think we would have finished in front of him. Nobody knows what to expect now from Sizing Europe. I will give my horse a breeze on Thursday and he will do his last serious piece of work on Monday."
The Liverpool Hurdle winner, Blazing Bailey, has been installed a 5 to 2 favourite by the sponsors for next week's Ladbrokes World Series Hurdle over two miles where he will again meet the horse he beat at Aintree, Faasel.
Blazing Bailey sustained a cut leg when winning his last race but trainer Alan King reported: "He has come out of Aintree well and the gash was nothing really."
The stayers race is also set to be the next start for the exciting novice Venalmar who ran second in the Ballymore Properties at Cheltenham behind Fiveforthree.
