O’Donoghue favourite ‘by default’

Colm O’Donoghue is the new favourite to become Coolmore’s number one jockey after Christophe Soumillon 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 2-1 favourite.