AUGUSTE IS A HOT PROSPECT
AUGUSTE RODIN is the 3-1 favourite for the Derby next June after giving Aidan O’Brien a record 11th victory in the Group 1 Vertem Futurity Trophy at Doncaster.
The master of Ballydoyle had voiced concerns over the rain-softened ground on Town Moor – the going was officially heavy – ahead of the final Group 1 of the British season.
But Auguste Rodin and Ryan Moore, one of a trio to race under the stands’ rail, made light of the conditions, surging into the lead over two furlongs out and galloping on resolutely to beat Epictetus by threeand-a-half lengths.
Holloway Boy, who veered across from the far side approaching the closing stages, came home third of the eight runners, a length and three-quarters away.
“We came here with the intention of taking him out,” admitted O’Brien (above with Moore), who went into the two-year-old one-mile test with a tally of 10 successes – a total he shared with the late Sir Henry Cecil.
“But Ryan rode in the first race and said he thought it was soft ground, and we walked the track and we felt it wasn’t heavy ground.
“Then we thought it was worth letting him take his chance – if it wasn’t going to do the horse any harm and it was going to be a benefit for next year, we would run.” Auguste Rodin also received a quote of 5-1 for the 2,000 Guineas – he heads the betting with stablemate Little Big Bear – and O’Brien is keen to test his colt over the Rowley Mile next May before stepping up in distance.
He added: “I would say he would have no problem starting off in a Guineas – he has a lot of class.
“You would imagine he is going to get a mile and a quarter on his ear and, usually, if horses are that good and that classy they don’t have any problem getting a mile and a half.
“He’s very clear winded, he has a good mind, he has a beautiful physique, he’s a beautiful mover and he has a lot of scope, so he looks to have all the right things.
“Auguste Rodin really is a horse to be a little bit excited about for next year.”
O’Brien came within a head of a Group 1 double, but his Espionage lost out
in a stirring finish to Proud And Regal – trained by son Donnacha and giving jockey Gavin Ryan a first triumph at the highest level – in the Criterium International at Saint-Cloud.
Danny Muscutt also partnered his first Group 1 winner as Dubai Mile denied Arrest by a head in the Criterium de Saint-Cloud.
Pied Piper was cut from 20-1 to 14-1 for the Champion Hurdle next March after denying old rival Knight Salute in Cheltenham’s Masterson Holdings Hurdle.