The 2007 Flat season kicks off at the Curragh on Sunday but already the star apprentice jockey Chris Hayes has pulled off a major coup after being signed up to ride the majority of horses for the leading owner, Lady O'Reilly, in Ireland.
Hayes, the champion apprentice for the last two years, still has 14 winners to ride before losing his claim but his comparative inexperience hasn't stopped the Castlemartin Stud team from snapping up his services for the upcoming season.
The 19-year-old from Shanagolden, Co Limerick, is commonly regarded within the sport as one of the most promising young riders to emerge in recent years and has been handed a priceless opportunity to successfully step up to the forefront of the jockey table proper.
"Lady O'Reilly has always been good to me during my career, and now she's being extra good," said Hayes yesterday. "This is a dream come true and it's coming at the right time as I'm coming into my last year as an apprentice. I only have 14 winners left to ride out my claim."
Hayes rode 33 winners last year to win the apprentice title again by 12 from Billy Lee and also tasted success in Britain for the first time.
Hayes is apprenticed to the veteran Curragh trainer Kevin Prendergast who has a sizable number of Lady O'Reilly's string in his yard and they will provide a massive boost to the young rider's chances of successfully making the difficult transfer from star apprentice to top fully-fledged jockey.
It is understood that Hayes's deal will not include O'Reilly-owned horses trained by Dermot Weld and John Oxx where Pat Smullen and Michael Kinane respectively will continue to be the retained jockeys.
Hayes will start his new position when the campaign kicks off at headquarters this weekend and despite the recent bad weather no problems are expected with the meeting going ahead. "The ground is currently heavy and there's no doubt it will be testing on Sunday. But at the moment we are not expecting any problems. It's going to be mild from Wednesday on but if the forecast is correct we should be fine," said the Curragh manager, Paul Hensey, yesterday.
For many racegoers, it will be the first chance to get a glimpse of the first stages of the €100 million facelift to the racecourse but Hensey said there will be minimal disruption to people despite the building work.
"Any disruption will be at the periphery of the course. There will have to be some changes to the parking system but internally, in the enclosures and the parade ring and so on, there will be no changes at all," he said. "Outside it will look entirely different because we are coming close to the completion of the new road and the new horse tunnel. But inside there will be very little new to see," Hensey added.
The €100,000 feature on Sunday will be the Ladbrokes Irish Lincolnshire which could see a clash between the last two winners of the prestigious mile handicap.
Last year's eight-length winner Bawaader is again one of 32 entries left in the race by Dermot Weld at yesterday's forfeit stage along with the 2005 winner Victram who ran fifth last season.
Last year's placed horses, Our Jaffa and Kalderon, are also among the list of possibles as is the high-class jumper Cloone River who hasn't been seen since taking a heavy fall in the 2005 Galway Hurdle.
Both Bawaader and Kalderon also feature prominently in ante-post betting for the Lincoln Handicap on Saturday week which will be run at Newcastle due to development work at Doncaster.
Kalderon's trainer Tom Hogan will definitely saddle Common World in the Lincolnshire and could still run Kalderon who has emerged unscathed from a run in the Supreme Novices Hurdle at Cheltenham last week. "He ran a blinder at Cheltenham. He just didn't come down the hill," Hogan said. "We will make up our minds later in the week about where Kalderon will go next but I would say it is unlikely he will run in both Lincolns."
The black type highlight on Sunday will be the Group Three Lodge Park Stud Park Express Stakes over a mile for fillies. Last year's winner, Danehill Music from David Wachman's yard, is one of 16 remaining in the mile contest along with five possibles from Aidan O'Brien's Ballydoyle stable.
The quintet include the Montjeu filly Uimhir A Haon, owned by Michael Ryan, who earned some classic quotes after winning her third start at Leopardstown last October, and the older filly Theann.
O'Brien also has three possible runners for the traditional opener to the Flat season, the five-furlong Tally Ho Maiden for two-year-olds, which last year featured the subsequent Moyglare winner Miss Beatrix who started favourite but finished third to Drayton.
