Auguste Rodin completes Derby double in landmark win for O’Brien
Auguste Rodin (Deep Impact) joined a host of equine greats when he followed up his Epsom heroics with a victory in yesterday’s Irish Derby (Gr 1, 1m 4f) at the Curragh.
Sent off the red-hot 4-11 favourite to become the 19th horse to complete the Derby double, Auguste Rodin came home a length and half clear of his nearest pursuer, though not without incident.
In leading home his Aidan O’Brien-trained stablemates Adelaide River (Australia) and Covent Garden (Galileo), the son of Deep Impact (Sunday Silence) provided his trainer with another clean sweep in the race he won for a record-extending 15th time. Auguste Rodin also became the 100th European Classic winner for the all-conquering trainer as well as supplying Ryan Moore, the man on board, with a cherished win, which means he has now completed the full set of English and Irish Classics.
However, the race came mightily close to having a very different complexion when San Antonio (Dubawi) under Wayne Lordan, another of the five runners for O’Brien in the nine-strong field, went wrong when racing upside the winner over four furlongs from the finish, an incident which resulted in both Proud And Regal (Galileo) and Epsom third, White Birch (Ulysses), being badly hampered.
With those three runners effectively out of the race, the Ballydoyle contingent were left to battle it out in the straight, with the runner-up laying down a serious challenge to the winner, who came under unexpected pressure racing into the final furlong.
In the end though, Auguste Rodin’s (3 c ex Rhododendron by Galileo) greater stamina came into play, as he won comfortably from Seamie Heffernan’s mount, with the third-placed Covent Garden and Declan McDonogh finishing almost five and a half lengths from the winner in third.
“I am lucky to get these chances and today I got one [Irish Derby],” said Moore after the presentations were made.
“It wasn’t a straightforward race. It was very windy today and when unfortunately Wayne’s horse went wrong I had to go back in. I felt my rhythm got broken and it wasn’t as smooth as it should have been.
“When I got to the front my horse waited and it just didn’t work out perfectly – but he has won – and for me he hasn’t had any sort of race.
“I am looking forward to him in the future.”
In winning yesterday’s race, Auguste Rodin took his career record to five wins in seven starts, three of them at the highest level, as he became the first horse since Harzand (Sea The Stars) in 2016 to complete the Derby double, a feat managed previously by the likes of Nijinsky (Northern Dancer), Shergar (Great Nephew) and Galileo (Sadler’s Wells).