Fallon to Light up Curragh

Racing/Irish Derby Preview: Almost 20 years to the day since he rode his first winner, Kieren Fallon returns home with what looks like a gilt-edged chance to win the Budweiser Irish Derby on North Light.

Fallon (39), has travelled a long way from that initial taste of victory on Picadilly Lad at Navan in June 1984 but the six-time champion jockey's appetite for big-race success has never been greater.

When North Light powered past the post a length and a half clear of his rivals in the Epsom Derby he was adding to a classic roll of honour that has seen Fallon win every English classic, bar the St Leger, at least once.

In contrast the Co Clare-born rider's classic record in Ireland is relatively poor.

Ramruma in the 1999 Oaks is his sole Irish classic winner to date but that is huge compared to Fallon's record in the Derby.

Three rides in the premier classic have yielded two last placings and a second last! In North Light, however, he has a colt that looks in a different league to anything he has had in the race before.

Beaten only once in four starts, the Michael Stoute-trained horse won on ground with a cut in the Dante and then comprehensively outpointed the opposition in the Derby itself, running clear of his Dante victims Rule Of Law and Let The Lion Roar with Percussionist in fourth.

That's the sort of form that makes North Light look a real odds-on shot to become just the 16th horse to complete the Epsom-Curragh Derby double.

And yet, there is no shortage of candidates wanting to take him on again.

Godolphin are so keen to give Rule Of Law another crack at North Light that they shelved out 95,000 to supplement the horse into the race last Tuesday.

John Dunlop has been aching to have another crack at the favourite ever since he judged Let The Lion Roar to have been an unlucky loser at Epsom after tracking the struggling Percussionist down the hill.

The latter's trainer, John Gosden, has also thrown the French Derby-fourth Day Flight into the pot, while Aidan O'Brien runs almost half the field with Jamie Spencer choosing Cobra from the Ballydoyle quintet.

However, Gosden seems to have caught the popular mood with his view of how the 1.3 million highlight will pan out.

"I think North Light is very legitimate favourite and on all form he should win," said the Manton-based trainer whose representative will walk the track beforehand to see if the ground has sufficient cut for Day Flight to run.

There appears little danger of that with 11mms of rain forecast for the Curragh overnight. Even with the first half of the Derby course riding "good to firm" last evening, the predicted rain should leave no excuses for anything in the big race.

That will only encourage the Dermot Weld-Pat Smullen team who are behind what could be the Derby dark horse in Grey Swallow.

If there is one horse that doesn't figure on North Light's form radar it is the grey who ended last season as the champion Irish juvenile.

A fourth in the Newmarket Guineas was followed by a third in the Irish 2,000 that a disappointed Weld put down to the ground being too firm.

It means that Grey Swallow brings mile classic form to the mile and a half party and if he truly stays the Weld horse has the speed to burn them all off.

With 8 to 1 odds generally available about him, there will be plenty who see Grey Swallow as the each way option.

But Fallon and North Light still look the likely winners.