JOHN Oxx has been added to Godolphin’s roster of Irish trainers.

The Curragh trainer recently received five two-year-olds from Sheikh Mohammed’s operation, and the news comes just weeks after Joe Osborne was appointed chief executive of the organisation. Godolphin has been steadily increasing its presence on Irish racecourses. It currently has 50 other horses in training here, split between Jim Bolger (27), Willie McCreery (14) and Michael Halford (19). The Oxx draft came from a pre-training centre in Newmarket and had not previously been allocated to any trainer.

Osborne said: “Sheikh Mohammed has had a long-standing relationship with John Oxx and we are delighted he has agreed to train for us again. We look forward to working with him.”

Best known for his faultless handling of Sea The Stars in 2009 and a 24-year association with the Aga Khan which yielded numerous champions, Oxx began training for Sheikh Mohammed in the mid-1980s.

In the 1990s Oxx trained George Augustus, Foresee, Witness Box, Heart Lake and Russian Snows to win big races in Sheikh Mohammed’s colours. However, as the Godolphin stable grew in numbers the owner’s original maroon and white silks were seen far less frequently on the track.

Dearly, New South Wales and Sea Dart were stakes winners for Oxx and the Sheikh between 2001 and 2003 but the relationship has been relatively quiet since then.

Flying Fairies, a 280,000gns acquisition for the yard last winter, is likely to run in a listed race at Roscommon next Monday, while stable companions Naughty Or Nice and Bengala are on track to run in the Darley Irish Oaks next Saturday.

Naughty Or Nice went off at 7/1 for the Ribblesdale Stakes at Royal Ascot last month but her saddle slipped at an early stage and she was practically pulled up.