G3 third for Darlington Hall in Lord Derby Challenge Trophy

Darlington Hall continued his strong start to 2022 as he was beaten less than a length into third in the G3 Lord Derby Challenge Trophy at Nakayama, Japan, on Saturday, 2 April.

The New Approach five-year-old, who finished a nose second in the Listed Rakuyo Stakes on his seasonal return for Tetsuya Kimura in February, was soon covered up in mid-division of the 16 runners by Takeshi Yokoyama.

Darlington Hall made good headway in the straight but had to switch to continue his challenge passing the furlong-pole. The 2020 G3 Kyodo News Hai winner took third from Gratias in the shadow of the post, with Time To Heaven and Vollkommen closing strongly from the rear to fill the first two places.

Harry Sweeney, President of Godolphin in Japan, said: “We are reasonably pleased with Darlington Hall’s third though, with a bit of racing luck, he could have done better. He clearly is competitive in Group company. He had throat surgery last year which has clearly worked so we can look forward to some big runs from him in the coming year.”