Joseph O'Brien could have his first official runners as a trainer on Monday if, as expected, he is granted a licence by the end of the week.
The two-time Irish champion jockey has a meeting on Friday with the licence committee of the Irish Turf Club, who are expected to rubber stamp his application as O'Brien has already fulfilled the other necessary obligations.
Should that go through without a hitch, then the 23-year-old son of multiple champion trainer Aidan O'Brien, would be allowed to have horses run in his name on Monday with race meetings scheduled for Gowran Park and Listowel.
The 23-year-old has been supervising a large string at a yard in Owning in County Kilkenny for some time, but all the inmates have been running in his father’s name.
"He will come up to licensing committee on Friday. They will interview him and I imagine they will sanction his licence," said Turf Club press officer Cliff Noone.
"They have already inspected his premises and they were found to be in perfect shape. The final step is him getting his licence and I would think that would be Friday afternoon.
"Obviously he can't declare horses on Friday, but he would have it so that he could declare horses on Sunday for Monday.
"I'm 100 per cent sure his licence will be sanctioned on Friday afternoon. It's just a case of dotting the I's and crossing the T's."
