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Auguste Rodin caps incredible year with Breeders' Cup success

The best could still be to come from Aidan O'Brien's latest superstar

Sunday, 05 November 2023
Auguste Rodin caps incredible year with Breeders' Cup success

Auguste Rodin charges home in the Breeders' Cup Turf under Ryan Moore

"He's so important to the breed. He brings the best of two continents together and we're so lucky to have him"

It's been a dizzying rollercoaster season for Aidan O'Brien's Auguste Rodin - and the best could be yet to come, writes James Toney.

Ballydoyle's brilliant Deep Impact colt added a fifth Group One to his stellar resume under a perfectly timed ride from Ryan Moore in the Breeders' Cup Turf in Santa Anita.

It was O'Brien's second win in 24 hours at racing's World Championships, Unquestionable won the Juvenile Turf on Friday, and the 18th of his career. He also becomes the first trainer in history to win the same race at the meeting seven times.

O'Brien is far too canny, far too experienced and far too level headed to ride the highs and lows of racing relentless undulations too hard but Auguste Rodin may just have tested that resolve in recent months.

After an eye-catching two-year-old season, his charge was being talked up as a Triple Crown contender, only to inexplicably flop when an odds-on favourite in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket in May.

However, in arguably the training performance of O'Brien's career, just 28 days later Auguste Rodin landed the Ballydoyle maestro a record ninth Epsom Derby, before doing the double at the Curragh.

He then finished last in the midsummer King George showpiece at Ascot, O'Brien offering 'no excuses' for the inexplicably dismal run.

However, this is an all or nothing sort of horse and an authoritative win in the Irish Champions Stakes at Leopardstown was followed by an equally brilliant victory over the rest of the world in California – the race arguably the pick of the bunch.

"It was incredible and Ryan had incredible confidence in him," said O'Brien.

"Ryan had faith in him and you can see the pace he has. He doesn't do much when he gets in front, which was a little worry, but he's a super horse."

O'Brien describes the impeccably bred Auguste Rodin as a 'collectors' item' and you can see why. His father was a fabled Japanese legend and his mother a Group One winning daughter of the legendary Galileo.

Collectors' items belong in museums, which in racing often means a three-year old career is immediately followed by a quick retirement to a profitable career at stud.

However, Auguste Rodin's Coolmore connections have hinted he'll have another season on the track in 2024 - a decision the sport will embrace with undiluted joy and will delight his growing legion of fans.

Perhaps he could even deliver O'Brien one of the few achievements missing from his already unrivalled resume, a win on the dirt in the Breeders' Cup Classic - the big-money showpiece of the meeting, next year hosted at San Diego's famous Del Mar racetrack.

"During the week I couldn't believe how he was cantering on the dirt and I asked myself if we'd done the right thing and should we have been in the Classic," he said.

"He's so important to the breed. He brings the best of two continents together and we're so lucky to have him.

"I'm delighted for the owners as they put so much in. John Magnier sent the mare to Japan for this and she was one of the best Galileo mares we ever had."

What a year 2024 could be for O'Brien and connections, if Auguste Rodin stays racing and City of Troy proves even a fraction of his promise in what could be a Classic campaign for the ages.

"There's a lot of things we could do with this horse, we could stand him in America or Europe but there's a definite possibility we may keep him in training next season," said Coolmore's MV Magnier. 

"The Classic next year? That would be fun wouldn't it?"



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