Johnny Murtagh took the honours on the first day of the new Irish Flat season by booting home a 879-1 treble at the Curragh.

Shane Kelly was in hot water with the stewards at Lingfield after being caught in the shadow of the post on 1-2 favourite Just Logic in the division two of the Be Lucky littlewoodspools.co.uk Maiden Stakes.

A 123-strong entry has been received for the first major race of the 2006 Flat season, the £100,000 (€146,000) William Hill Lincoln, to be run this year at Redcar on March 25.

Classic potential was unveiled as Kempton opened the turf Flat season for the first time in 16 years today but it was Paul Webber, more familiar as a jumps trainer, who took away the biggest prize.

Madame Jones will make another attempt to set a new all-time record for the number of handicap wins in a year on Saturday.