KY-Bred Red Verdon Aimed for St. Leger
Description:
Trainer Ed Dunlop is hoping the extended 1 3/4 miles of the Ladbrokes St Leger (Eng-I) will play to the strengths of Red Verdon in the world's oldest classic, for which Idaho is the early favorite for the Sept. 10 event at Doncaster.
A Kentucky-bred son of Lane's End resident Lemon Drop Kid bred by Liberty Road Stables, Red Verdon has a 3-3-0 record from eight starts. He has progressed from handicap wins at Chester and Haydock Park this spring to finishing second last time out in the Juddmonte Grand Prix de Paris (Fr-I) going about 1 1/2 miles July 14 at Saint-Cloud.
"I don't know about the step up in trip," Dunlop said. "His pedigree doesn't scream that he will stay, but he has been finishing strongly over a mile and a half. He also relaxes well in his races and that will give him every chance of getting the trip."
Owned by Hong Kong-based businessman Ron Arculli, Red Verdon competed creditably in a pair of 1 1/2-mile classics: He finished sixth in the Investec Derby (Eng-I) June 4 at Epsom Downs after starting from the widest post. Three weeks later, he stayed on stoutly to take fourth—he was unlucky not to be third—in the Irish Derby (Ire-I) at the Curragh.
"Red Verdon has had a good break since France," Dunlop said last month, but speaking at a St. Leger luncheon Sept. 5 at The Landmark in London, he warned the colt's preparation has been far from straightforward.
"It has been touch and go," he said. "He has had one or two health issues, like most of Newmarket, but we are going there (to the St. Leger) at the moment.
"It's not been an ideal preparation, but he is a horse that has very much improved throughout the season. Without the hiccup we would have been very confident about running a huge race."
Red Verdon is out of U.S. and Irish stakes winner Porto Marmay (Choisir) and is from the family of Arculli's Hong Kong champion stayer and two-time champion miler River Verdon (Be My Native).
London-based Charlie Gordon-Watson purchased Red Verdon for Arculli for 90,000 guineas ($140,276) at the 2015 Tattersalls breeze-up sale. The chestnut colt sold under Gainesway's agency at the 2014 Keeneland September yearling sale, where breeze sale specialist Jim McCarten bought him for $85,000.
Coolmore and partners' Idaho, a full brother to multiple group I winner Highland Reel, proved himself among the best of his generation in two classics: He was beaten a half-length by Harzand in the Irish Derby after his third to that rival in the Epsom Derby. The Irish-bred son of Galileo most recently captured the 1 1/2-mile Great Voltigeur (Eng-II) Aug. 17 at York.
Final declarations for the St. Leger, worth a record £700,000 ($931,114) this year, are Sept. 8. Red Verdon is pegged at 10-1 by race sponsor Ladbrokes. James Doyle is booked to ride.