Red Verdon (Lemon Drop Kid), a fast finishing fourth in the G1 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby, is to be trained for the G1 Ladbrokes St Leger at Doncaster in September. The Ed Dunlop-trained colt finished eight lengths closer to Harzand (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) on Saturday than he did when finishing sixth at Epsom and he failed by just a short head to grab third place from Jim Bolger's Stellar Mass (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}).
“He has come out of his race very well and arrived back here safely at La Grange,” said Dunlop. “The aim is more than likely the St Leger now, with the [G2] Great Voltigeur [at York] possibly a stepping stone to it beforehand.”
Red Verdon appeared to lack some tactical speed mid-race before staying on strongly in the closing stages, which suggests a further step up in trip would play to his strengths.
Dunlop continued, “Red Verdon ran very well in the Irish Derby, but it was frustrating that he did not get third place. On the bare form, he has improved nearly eight lengths on his Derby run, but I feel if he hadn't got quite so far back, he would have been third.”
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