More classic success could await rider Dylan Browne McMonagle this weekend but before that there is an opportunity for him to storm to Group One glory in France on Tuesday evening.
Ireland’s champion jockey travels to Longchamp for the Cygames Grand Prix de Paris, French racing’s €600,000 Bastille Day highlight, where he teams up with Limestone for his boss, Joseph O’Brien, in a race off at 7.15.
Winner of Royal Ascot’s Queen’s Vase on his last start, Limestone drops back in trip for the mile-and-a-half contest that O’Brien won as a jockey 14 years ago on Imperial Monarch.
That horse was one of five winners of the race for Aidan O’Brien, who relies on another Royal Ascot winner, Causeway. Ryan Moore’s mount renews rivalry with Ancient Egypt, whom he narrowly beat in the King Edward VII Stakes. The Irish horse sports first-time blinkers.
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A total of seven horses line up with the Epsom Derby runner-up Maltese Cross also travelling from England for William Haggas. A trio of home hopes include the Aga Khan Studs’s unbeaten Varandir as well as Alam, fifth to Constitution River in the French Derby.
Browne McMonagle and O’Brien are represented by Sons And Lovers in the Group Two Prix Maurice De Nieuil after the big race. The partnership is also looking forward to Saturday’s Juddmonte Irish Oaks at the Curragh with their Epsom heroine Thundering On.
The filly has subsequently finished only fourth to older rival Estrange in last month’s Pretty Polly Stakes but will return to 12-furlongs in the Curragh classic. Last year, Minnie Hauk was the 16th filly to complete the Oaks double.
“I’ve been happy with how she has been training the last couple of weeks,” said O’Brien. “She’s trained well since the Pretty Polly and we’re looking forward to seeing her back on the track. Going back up in trip should suit her well, hopefully.”
Tuesday’s acceptance stage will see the complexion of the fourth classic of 2026 at HQ become clearer, although already committed to the Oaks is the Ribblesdale Stakes winner Earth Shot.
She endured a troubled passage through last month’s Ascot contest due to a loose horse but still managed to win on her first start for new owners, Wathnan Racing.
Having missed the opening weeks of the Irish flat season with a back injury, Browne McMonagle has been rapidly making up ground in his title defence. Before Monday’s Killarney action, he was on 34 winners for the season, 11 behind leader Colin Keane.
His Paris diversion works out well for British champion jockey Oisín Murphy, who will ride for the first time at his home track in Killarney on Tuesday evening.
Murphy grew up just outside Killarney and was a racegoer there as a child. The 30-year-old star has previously ridden at Kerry’s other racecourse in Listowel but is looking forward to competing on home ground.
“I grew up going to Killarney as a child and it’ll be great to be back there and being able to ride. I remember hanging around outside the weighing room waiting for jockeys’ autographs and goggles and whatever else.
“It looks like I’ve got some really nice chances, I’ll have lots of family and friends there and hopefully it’s a good day,” he said.
The five-time cross-channel champion has had a turbulent career, mixing brilliance with controversy, including a lengthy ban in 2022 for breaching British racing’s coronavirus protocols.
He has also been penalised after returning positive tests for alcohol and cocaine. Murphy was banned from driving a year ago after a crash earlier in 2025 when he admitted to being over the alcohol limit.
Despite that, he has enjoyed continuous big-race success around the globe, including the 2019 Japan Cup on Suave Richard. He has also won twice at the Breeders’ Cup. However, he has enjoyed just eight winners in his native Ireland. They include Roaring Lion in the 2018 Irish Champion Stakes.
The first of his six rides on Tuesday is on Joseph O’Brien’s Celtic Motif in a maiden. She is back in Ireland after four winless starts in the US. She had smart juvenile form with O’Brien and still boasts a 92 rating.
There is domestic jumping action too at Downpatrick on Tuesday, where Gordon Elliott’s hopes include Playtime in a novice hurdle.
