Supporters of the Derby at Epsom were prepared for major disruption following threats from animal rights group Animal Rising who had made a clear threat that they would endeavour to have the race stopped.
That threat was nullified as the Epsom management team and the police deployed an effective containment strategy which saw 31 people arrested including a dozen arrested on the course itself. A lone member of that group did manage to get onto the track but he was quickly apprehended, leaving the race to proceed uninterrupted.
The narrative in the media and among the public centred largely around Frankie Dettori’s last Derby ride on board Arrest, a focus that was magnified following Dettori’s Group 1 double the previous day.
Unfortunately for Dettori Arrest didn’t perform, he sweated up in the pre-parade and quickly faded in the race once the taps were turned on after Tattenham Corner. The same could not be said for the 66/1 outsider King Of Steel, a Roger Varian trained son of Wootton Bassett, who was travelling well and who Kevin Stott, having his first ride in the race, sent to the front two furlongs out, having woven his way through the field from a position near the back at Tattenham Corner.
But Ryan Moore on Auguste Rodin, coming from a similar position as King Of Steel entering the straight, had a clearer run, wider towards the middle of the track. As soon as King Of Steel hit the front Moore had Auguste Rodin on his tail and the pair battled through the last quarter mile. But Auguste Rodin aways looked like he might prove too strong and that is how it turned out with the final 100 yards proving a bridge too far for King Of Steel, he falterd and this allowed Moore to sweep past and claim the prize.
August Rodin is by Deep Impact, one of his final crop and represented the late stallion’s last chance to sire a Derby winner. As such he will be an important asset for Coolmore who also stand the sire of the runner-up King Of Steel, Wootton Bassett.
The win provided trainer Aidan O’Brien with a ninth Derby, extending his record-breaking performance in the race. One of his key supporters, owner Michael Tabor in whose colours Auguste Rodin ran, was effusive in his praise of the Ballydoyle maestro. “He’s a genius, his record speaks for itself. He produces the animal on the day to get the maximum of their ability. It’s not just once or twice, he regularly does it and that in itself speaks volumes of the genius he is.”
Winning jockey Ryan Moore was quick to point out that he felt the quicker ground he was encountering for the first time was very much in the horse’s favour.
“He got the trip very well and he was very comfortable throughout the race,” said Moore. “I felt like he was doing it easy. He always felt like he was going beautifully and I think this quicker ground is a big help to him.”
The trainer did not outline any immediate targets for Auguste Rodin although he hinted at a possible tilt at the Irish Derby, a race his owners like to win and a path they’ve followed with their Derby winners in the past. “He’s free of the [Triple Crown] shackles now,” said O’Brien. “The Curragh would be an obvious choice for him, but we’ll see how the horse is and what the lads want to do.”
