Leather strikes gold in Silver

Placed in both the Dante Stakes in York and the Irish 2,000 Guineas, Trading Leather made it third-time-lucky as a three-year-old and booked his ticket to the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby when justifying 5/4 favouritism in the listed TRM Silver Stakes in the Curragh yesterday.

The Teofilo colt, which blazed the trail in the Guineas before finishing third to Magician, settled in second spot behind Ansgar before challenging early in the straight. In front at the two-furlong pole, he was driven clear by Kevin Manning and stayed on strongly to beat Lines Of Battle (having his first run since the Kentucky Derby) by three-and-a-half lengths, with another Ballydoyle colt Kingston Jamaica in third.

Trainer Jim Bolger confirmed: “He’ll probably come back here for the Irish Derby (June 29). As you know, he was our back-up for Epsom. He won well today and should stay a mile and a half. He’s very straight-forward and has to have good ground, or faster.”