RACING NEWS:COLM O'DONOGHUE is the new favourite to become Coolmore's number one jockey after Christophe Soumillon yesterday ruled himself out of the job.

The Belgian-born rider had been all the rage for the coveted post vacated by Johnny Murtagh, but has now signed a new deal to ride for the Wildenstein family in France.

O’Donoghue has been based with Coolmore’s principal trainer, Aidan O’Brien, for 13 years and William Hill believe he is the most likely candidate to step up and take the top role, making him the 2 to 1 favourite.

With Murtagh signing up to become the new retained rider for the Aga Khan’s Irish-trained horses, of which John Oxx has 90, Oxx’s stable jockey Fran Berry has effectively found himself out of a job.

He is William Hill’s second-favourite to effectively swap seats with Murtagh at 5 to 1.

The bookmaker’s spokesman, Tony Kenny, said: “The hallowed halls of Ballydoyle are battened down again without a sniff as to who is going to land the coveted job.

“Colm O’Donoghue – now favourite by default following the ruling out of Soumillon – is the likeliest appointment. But it is not beyond the realms of possibility that Ballydoyle instead choose to use the best jockey available, which could lead to a lot of jostling among the upper ranks.”

Meanwhile, Donnas Palm could have another crack at Solwhit in the Hatton’s Grace Hurdle at Fairyhouse on Sunday week.

The former cut out much of the running in Sunday’s Dobbins Madigans Hurdle at Punchestown but had to give best in the closing stages as Solwhit swept past to score decisively.

Donnas Palm was beaten into third, but trainer Noel Meade hopes the step up in trip and different tactics could improve the result on his next appearance.

“I think that run showed just about where he fits in,” the trainer said. “We had to force it as we knew he’d stay and knew the others would do us for pace if we sat.

“You would think had we not done that, Solwhit would still have won, but we might have finished second. He’s come out of the race well and will probably run in the Hatton’s Grace, even though we’re going to have to take Solwhit on again.

“It’s a two-and-a-half-mile race and we might ride him a touch differently.”

Horse Racing Ireland has scheduled two new fixtures for next month.

The card at Wexford on November 27th has been cancelled due to a waterlogged track, while an inspection of the inside course at Fairyhouse led to the meeting scheduled for December 2nd being called off.

Navan will now stage a meeting on Wednesday, December 1st, with Cork set to host racing on Tuesday, December 14th.

The fixtures at Fairyhouse on November 27th and November 28th will be run on the main course and are unaffected.

Next Ballydoyle Jockey (William Hill):2-1 Colm O'Donoghue, 5-1 Fran Berry, 6-1 Jamie Spencer, Kieren Fallon, Tom Queally, 8-1 Olivier Peslier, 10-1 Jimmy Fortune, Ryan Moore, Julien Leparoux, Declan McDonogh, Seamus Heffernan, 12-1 Joseph O'Brien, 16-1 Richard Hughes, Steven Arnold, William Buick, 20-1 bar.