Scholarship

Scholarship put up a fine performance to finish second to Set Point in the Ladies Derby at The Curragh on Saturday. Held up early on by Georgie Benson off a moderate pace, he made good ground around the home turn and he was delivered by his rider with what looked like a race-winning challenge inside the two-furlong marker. In the end, he just couldn’t get past Set Point, who was ridden similarly patiently by Sophie Carter, but it was a fine performance in defeat, with the first two pulling nicely clear of their rivals.

A winner over six and seven furlongs for Clive Cox as a two-year-old and as a three-year-old, the Profitable gelding stepped up in trip to 10 furlongs for the first time on his third run for Ger O’Leary, and he saw out the trip well, keeping on well to finish less than five lengths behind subsequent Duke of Edinburgh Stakes winner Crystal Black. This was his second run over 10 furlongs, and he remains unexposed at the trip. A 3lb hike from the handicapper was not harsh, it takes him up to a mark of 87, which is still 7lb lower than his peak. He will be interesting now in another 10-furlong handicap off that mark.

The Curragh, 29^th June 2024