John Murtagh's effort to wrest the Irish jockeys' title from Pat Smullen appears to be over after the Turf Club yesterday dismissed his appeal against a two-day riding ban.
Murtagh is two winners behind Smullen with just 15 races left in the flat season and will miss out on both Thurles fixtures next week. The flat season will wind up at Leopardstown in eight days' time.
However, Murtagh is not sitting back and today will be at St Cloud where he rides the Royal Lodge winner Mutinyonthebounty, one of three Aidan O'Brien runners in the Criterium International.
Along with the Dewhurst runner-up Landseer (Michael Kinane) and Diaghilef (Thierry Jarnet), Murtagh's mount will be trying to notch up a new world record total of 23 for the number of Group One winners trained in a year.
As well as attempting to overhaul Bob Baffert's total, Aidan O'Brien will also be trying to continue his way towards a grand slam of two-year-old Group One's open to colts in Europe.
Murtagh's travels won't end in France, as he then flies to Australia for the prized spare ride on the German raider Caitano in Tuesday's Melbourne Cup at Flemington.
"I've always wanted to ride in the Melbourne Cup. I don't think the Australian stayers are any stars so we have got to have a chance," he said yesterday.
A win in Australia's most famous race would be more than adequate compensation for missing out on the jockeys' title at home and Murtagh was philosophical about the failure of an appeal against careless riding picked up at Fairyhouse last week.
"I had been hoping for a big finish but it's not to be. It looks a lost cause now but I had a fair hearing," he said.
The feature at Punchestown tomorrow is the £30,000 Irish Field Chase where the bank holiday Galway scorer Michael Mor has to concede weight all around to some smart novices.
Regal Venture gets 3lb from Michael Mor, and only got home by a length on his last start at the new Limerick track, but is evidently held in high regard by his shrewd trainer Michael O'Brien and can complete a good day for the Naas based team of O'Brien and rider Tom Rudd.
They go into action in the maiden hurdle with Goss who had fair flat form in France last year and who should benefit considerably from a race on the level at Thurles last week.
Tenshookmen goes for three in a row in the handicap chase, having been raised 9lb for an easy course success last time, and the handicapper may not have got the seven-year-old's measure yet.
