Red Verdon

Red Verdon did well to run on as well as he did to take fourth place in the Irish Derby in a race that was run at a relatively sedate early pace.

Initially settled in mid-division, Silvestre de Sousa gradually took his horse back in the field so that he had dropped back to a dispute of last place by the time they started the descent towards the home turn. A clear last when they straightened up, and still last as they passed the two-furlong pole, Ed Dunlop’s horse picked up from there, and he stayed on strongly all the way to the line to take fourth place. He would have caught Stellar Mass for third place behind Harzand and Idaho in another couple of strides.

Sixth in the Epsom Derby when he didn’t have much luck, River Verdon had a progressive profile going into that race, having won handicaps at Chester and at Haydock. He did not have much luck in-running in the Epsom Derby, for which he was supplemented, and the race probably wasn’t run to suit him in the Irish Derby either, for which he was also supplemented. Sent off at 20/1 at Epsom and at 10/1 at The Curragh, he could still be an under-rated horse. His dam won over five furlongs, but there is plenty of stamina in his pedigree, and he shaped here as if he would improve for a greater test of stamina than this mile and a half at a moderate pace presented.

25^th June 2016