Johnny Murtagh has finally elected to ride Rip Van Winkle.
This has been predicted widely in the press in recent weeks. I think a couple of us, myself included, felt that so widely had it been predicted that it couldn't be true and not a lot of us expected Murtagh to pick Fame And Glory, the impressive Derrinstown winner, in Saturday's Investec Derby.
But, not so, he has picked stanjames.com 2,000 Guineas fourth Rip Van Winkle - I would at this stage suggest that it is the incorrect decision as Rip Van Winkle's stamina is far less assured than most of his stable companions that run in the race.
However, Murtagh has always had a soft spot for him clearly and, as such, his choosing the horse will probably see his odds tumble as it would suggest that the horse has been showing plenty of improvement on the gallops at home.
Obviously a Ballydoyle victory in the Derby would be hugely timely given the passing of Vincent O'Brien earlier in the week, but it is Murtagh on Rip Van Winkle.
The other jockeys riding for Ballydoyle, although Aidan O'Brien says they are not set in stone, are all quite interesting and have been carefully thought out. They have got their pool of jockeys sorted and they have matched them to the horses.
The way they have been matched it quite interesting - Richard Hughes, for example, rides a horse called Masterofthehorse, who is not the most straight forward and probably needs one of those Richard Hughes cajoling rides.
Ryan Moore a good straight forward talented individual rides Black Bear Island, who is probably one of the most tactically adaptable horses in the field.
Pat Smullen is known to be astute tactically from the front and he rides Age Of Aquarius who is likely to be one of the pacesetters because he is a real grinder and stayer. Likewise, regular Ballydoyle pacemaker jockey Colm O'Donoghue rides Golden Sword, who made all the running at Chester.
You can see where they are going with the matching of the jockeys to the horses but the significant one is that Murtagh has gone for Rip Van Winkle.