Auguste Rodin looks to continue memorable summer in the King George
The double Derby winner heads into the Ascot Grade 1 as favourite
Auguste Rodin completes a Derby double at the Curragh
Auguste Rodin’s double Derby delight has made 2023 a year to remember for Aidan O’Brien and the superstar colt now leads the Irish charge in Ascot’s King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes, writes Tom Masters.
A disappointing 12th place at Newmarket in the 2000 Guineas at the start of the season did not dampen O’Brien’s faith and he was rewarded in style with victory in the Epsom showpiece.
A month later, he entered the history books when completing a derby double at The Curragh in an O’Brien 1-2-3-4.
Exactly four weeks after that triumph and Auguste Rodin is ready to go again, this time at Ascot, where he will race for the first time.
It is a race that has not been kind to Irish raiders recently, with his last successful trip over the Irish Sea coming back in 2016 when O’Brien claimed his fourth win with Highland Reel.
Seven years have passed since then but it is unlikely there has been a more talented Irish contender than Auguste Rodin, who heads the market at 10-3.
Roger Varian’s King Of Steel, who came close to a sensational 66-1 triumph at Epsom before Auguste Rodin crept in front, is set to challenge, while Coronation Cup winner Emily Upjohn will have Frankie Dettori on board and Hukum – older brother of Baaeed – is also a short price.
There is certainly confidence though that Auguste Rodin can end the Irish drought and there is nobody who backs this horse more than O’Brien.
He said: “Obviously Auguste Rodin has been the apple of everybody’s eye and he has done it all the time.
“Everything we have asked him to do, he has done very smoothly and nicely.”
Perhaps his biggest threat this weekend is the weather, with rain expected and the ground already soft, something O’Brien is hoping does not materialise.
“It definitely wouldn’t be ideal,” he added.
“He’s a beautifully moving horse and you wouldn’t want to be running him in soft ground or bad ground.”
Auguste Rodin is the headline act but he is supported by three stablemates in the race, most notably Luxembourg, who himself is in good form and won the Irish Gold Cup at The Curragh in May.
Point Lonsdale, who finished third at Epsom’s Coronation Cup and Bolshoi Ballet, who finished second in the Wolferton Stakes on this course in June, complete the quartet of Irish and O’Brien chargers.
