Savethisdanceforme to shine

PREVIEWS:THE IRISH Flat season may officially have been under way for a month, but for many the term starts properly at the Curragh tomorrow where Johnny Murtagh will begin his new job as number one jockey to Aidan O'Brien's all-powerful Ballydoyle stables

Murtagh flies in from a winter spent riding in Dubai, and O'Brien will be waiting with four runners, his first of the year, including the classic prospect Savethisdanceforme, who will bid to cement her 1,000 claims in the Group Three Lodge Park Stud Park Express Stakes.

Savethisdanceforme, a nine-length winner of a Listed race here last season, is a general 20 to 1 shot for Newmarket, and her opposition will include Jim Bolger's Lush Lashes, who is as low as 12 to 1 for Newmarket after a lucrative Goffs Million victory last September.

Ranged against them are some smart older horses, including the 2006 winner Danehill Music. Three-year-olds usually have a tough task against their seniors at this time of year, but this race may not follow that pattern again with Savethisdanceforme unlikely to be too inconvenienced by soft ground.

Murtagh and O'Brien will also be closely examined in the concluding mile maiden where the Pivotal colt Poet should also cope with the conditions better than most.

The handicap feature will be the Ladbrokes Irish Lincolnshire, which will include a pair of English challengers as well as a rare French entry in a handicap here, Estrela Brage.

John Hammond, a former Irish Derby winner here with Montjeu, runs the five-year-old who was runner-up in a Saint-Cloud Listed race earlier this month after a couple of winter runs on the French Riviera at Cagnes.

It will be a very different situation on the first day of the Curragh season, and in the circumstances the tough and hardy hurdler Indian Pace may be a better option after a recent run on the flat at Cork.

Dermot Weld's powerful string have hit the all-weather running and Bravely Fought was an easy, four-and-a-half-length winner at Dundalk last month. With that run under his belt he should be hard to beat in the seven-furlong handicap.

Today's action at Navan includes the eight-runner An Uaimh Chase, which includes a number of horses who are high on reputation but low on current form. Foreman and The Railway Man are former Grade One winners, and a return to their best would make either hard to beat.

Justpourit has had plenty chances in the past and No Full is gearing up for next weekend's Aintree Grand National. In the circumstances, though, a small interest in Benefit Night might be the safest option.

Patrick Mullins is hot in pursuit of a first amateur riders' title and his cause could be helped in today's bumper courtesy of Uimhiraceathair who ran third to Grab A Grand on his Clonmel debut.

His dad, Willie, has two in the novice handicap chase and the Down Royal winner Gilligans Hall may be a better option than Arbor Supreme.