GB: Despite a deplorable effort last month on his seasonal debut in the Qipco 2000 Guineas, Auguste Rodin is favourite all-round with bookmakers ahead of the Betfred Derby at Epsom on Saturday [June 3].
The son of Deep Impact, who beat only two home at Newmarket, is 5-2 favourite to give trainer Aidan O’Brien a ninth victory in the 240th running of the £1.5 million contest.
O’Brien says he is keeping the faith in a colt whom he suggested could be a Triple Crown type – before he let the side down as hot favourite in the Guineas.
“He has always been special from day one – his movement and everything about him,” said O’Brien.
“Nothing has changed our minds about him,” he went on, speaking on a Zoom press conference on Wednesday [May 31]. “Obviously, the Guineas went wrong and we just put that down as a non-event for him. We are looking forward to seeing how he runs on Saturday like everybody else.
“We were delighted how he came out of the race really,” added O’Brien. “He is a very athletic horse, close-coupled and a very good mover – he wouldn’t break glass the way he moves. We are very happy with him physically since the Guineas and he is in very good form.
“Being by Deep Impact, one of the greatest Japanese stallions ever and out of Rhododendron, who was probably one of the best Galileo mares ever, he is very unique and rare. When you get a horse like him who looks like that, moves like, with that pedigree and with that ability, it is very unusual.”
Reflecting on Auguste Rodin’s performance at Newmarket, O’Brien continued: “The plan was always to go straight to Epsom after Newmarket anyway and we needed to give him time to recover and build up.
“He has very much a middle-distance pedigree and was always going to step up in trip after the Guineas – he wouldn’t run over a mile again. He’s a beautiful-moving horse and good ground would always be what he’d prefer.
“There are a lot of factors that we think happened in Newmarket that we couldn’t control and we didn’t think or see anything to make us bear from our original plan to go for the Derby.
“A mile was always going to be his hardest test and everything needed to go right and obviously that did not happen – the opposite did in fact.
“He’s a beautiful-moving horse and soft ground was always going to be a worry for him. There was also the trip which was always going to be plenty short enough for him and he also needed a clear run and Little Big Bear galloped back into him. Ryan then got stuck in a pocket and there was no pace in the race.
“So many things went wrong and our plan to fly over on the morning was not possible – any one of the factors could have been detrimental and they all happened on the same day.”
O’Brien is seeking a record-extending ninth Derby success after the victories of Galileo (2001), High Chaparral (2002), Camelot (2012), Ruler of the World (2013), Australia (2014), Wings of Eagles (2017), Anthony Van Dyck (2019) and Serpentine (2020).
Auguste Rodin will be joined by stablemates San Antonio and Adelaide River – and O’Brien revealed they will be leaving Ballydoyle earlier than usual owing to the earlier start time, with the Derby shunted forwards to 1.30pm to avoid a clash with the FA Cup Final.
“The horses will be leaving Ballydoyle on Thursday afternoon,” said O’Brien. “We usually travel on the day but with the early start we couldn’t take that risk and the horses will stay over at Epsom on Friday.
“We think it is the sensible and responsible thing to do and we will be sending over the fillies running in the Oaks today – even though the Oaks it is run at its usual time, so they will take the same route as the colts.”
Assessing his other two Betfred Derby contenders, the trainer said: “Adelaide River is a straightforward horse. He ran in Chester when the ground got soft – we don’t think he’s a soft-ground horse as he is a Galileo out of a War Front mare which all suggest he’s a better-ground horse.
“We think he does stay and we’d be happy to go forward and ride him handy. He has had plenty of racing and has experience. We’ve been happy with him since Chester.
“Sam Antonio won his first race this year at Dundalk and then went to Chester on soft ground. He has never run this far but is interesting as dam [Rain Goddess] was second in the Irish Oaks and he is by Dubawi.”
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