Reiteration may have edge at Leopardstown

Aidan O'Brien will saddle two of the four runners in the Group 2, $126,000 Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial at Leopardstown on Sunday, but both of them, Midas Touch and At First Sight, could be vulnerable to the Jim Bolger-trained Reiteration.

A Kentucky-bred Vindication half-brother to Acorn Stakes winner Cotton Blossom, Reiteration has won both of his starts this year, taking a one-mile Curragh maiden before a going-away, 2 1/2-length score in the 1 3/16-mile Gowran Park Classic Trial. Kevin Manning will be at the controls of the improving colt, who should be able to handle the mild step up to 1 1/4 miles. The Dermot Weld-trained maiden winner Address Unknown completes the field.

At First Sight was just a short head second to Puncher Clynch in the Group 3 Ballysax Stakes on April 18, but Midas Touch hasn't been seen since finishing a dull fifth on very soft ground in the Group 1 Criterium International at Saint-Cloud on Nov. 1. The winner that day, the O'Brien-trained Jan Vermeer, remains the 10-1 third favorite for the Epsom Derby but was not entered for this race, nor is he nominated to next Thursday's Dante Stakes at York, the key Epsom Derby prep.

Since 2000 the Derrinstown Stud Derby Trial has been won by Epsom and Irish Derby winners Sinndar, Galileo, and High Chaparral, as well as by Irish Derby winners Dylan Thomas and Fame and Glory. None of the four horses in this year's renewal appears to be in their class, at least not yet.