It has been a beautiful warm summer’s day here in Newmarket and the sun has put a smile on everyone’s faces. All of the horses enjoyed some warmth on their backs and had an easy day out on the heath basking in the sunshine. We have been able to turn out some horses this morning with Red Verdon being one of them. He seems to have taken his race well, he ate up after the race and then had a good sleep. He was bucking and kicking in his paddock this morning.
I was very happy with Red Verdon’s run in The Derby, they went very hard in the first part of the race and from the widest draw of all we had to take our time. We would have finished closer if he had followed US Army Ranger through as he met plenty of trouble up the rail but the first three finished a long way clear. He has progressed rapidly in the last two months and we have to take heart that we have a very good colt in the yard. We will map out a plan for him now for the rest of the campaign and given how he has kept improving, there should be more progress to come.
Justice First was second at Lingfield over six furlongs on Saturday evening, they went fast early which suited him but the gap did not open when he needed it and he had to come wide before running on well to go down by half a length. Global Revival showed some promise in the 6f Novice at Newcastle, it was happening a bit quickly for him and he will want further in time. The two fillies Social Media and Rockery are both still learning and found things happening too fast in the following race, the first two looked useful.
The Derby and The Prix Du Jockey Club were both stern tests of stamina this year and Harzand and Almanzor both look smart colts although they may not be as affective on faster ground. US Army Ranger was undone by his draw but it was a very taking performance from him at Epsom as he made up a lot of ground and he clearly improved markedly from Chester and Idaho ran a big race in third. There were no English trained horses in the first three at Epsom or at Chantilly as the raiders disappointed in France and French trainers were responsible for the first, second and third.