Auguste Rodin (horse)

Auguste Rodin began his track career in a seven furlong maiden race at the Curragh on 1 June when he started the 4/6 favourite but finished second to Crypto Force, beaten two and a half lengths by the winner. A month later the colt started odds-on favourite for a similar event at Naas Racecourse. Ridden by Seamie Heffernan he disputed the lead from the start, opened up a clear advantage inside the final furlong and won "comfortably" by two lengths from Shadowed.[7] The colt was then stepped up in class for the Group 2 Champions Juvenile Stakes over one mile on soft ground at Leopardstown Racecourse on 10 September when he was ridden by Ryan Moore and started 11/10 favourite in a six-runner field. After tracking the leaders he took the lead a furlong out and despite hanging to the right in the closing stages he stayed on well to win by one and a half lengths from Caroline Street.[8] After the race Aidan O'Brien commented "He's always showed a lot and has a beautiful physique, a lovely nature... He was a little idle when he got to the front, but we're delighted with him. He's always gone through his work very impressively. He has plenty of class and quality, and probably will sharpen up a lot from today. We thought he could be the type of horse to do both the Guineas and the Derby".[9]

For his final run of the campaign Auguste Rodin was sent to England to contest the Group 1 Vertem Futurity Trophy over one mile on heavy ground at Doncaster Racecourse on 22 October. With Moore again in the saddle he went off the 9/4 favourite with the best fancied of his seven opponents being Epictetus and Holloway Boy. At the start of the race he was switched right by Moore to race up the stands side of the straight course. He was restrained by Moore in the early stages before taking the lead approaching the final furlong and drawing away to win "readily" by three and a half lengths.[10] O'Brien revealed that he had considered withdrawing the horse owing to the heavy going and explained that the early move to the rail had been planned to ensure that the colt was racing on fresher ground. Bookmakers responded by making Auguste Rodin 5/1 for the 2000 Guineas and 4/1 favourite for the Epsom Derby.[11]

In the official two-year-old ratings for 2022, Auguste Rodin was rated the equal fourth-best juvenile of the season in Europe, behind Little Big Bear, Blackbeard and Chaldean.[12]

In the early part of 2023 there was speculation that Auguste Rodin become the first horse since Nijinsky to complete the Triple Crown by winning the 2000 Guineas, Derby and St Leger.[13] Aidan O'Brien said "the Triple Crown is a very hard thing to do, but sometime it would be great to do it. He is by Deep Impact, who stayed well, he’s out of a Galileo mare and we are looking forward to it. It is a difficult type of horse to find, because they have to have a lot of class and they have to have pace enough to run in the Guineas. It’s pure class and class gives them stamina and gives them speed. We just thought that, at the moment, he fits into that bracket really well."[14]

On 6 May Auguste Rodin began his second season in the 2000 Guineas over the Rowley Mile at Newmarket on soft ground and started the 13/8 favourite in a fourteen-runner field. He was slightly hampered early in the race and never looked likely to win at any stage, coming home twelfth, more than twenty lengths by the winner Chaldean.[15] O'Brien felt that having to fly the horse to England a day earlier than planned owing to security measures surrounding the Coronation of King Charles III) had badly affected his chances. He commented "the whole thing was a bit of a non-event really. The travelling over is what it is".[16]

The 244th running of the Derby took place over one and a half miles on good to firm ground at Epsom Racecourse on 3 June and Auguste Rodin started the 9/2 second favourite behind the Chester Vase winner Arrest. The other twelve contenders included Military Order (Lingfield Derby Trial), The Foxes (Dante Stakes), White Birch (Ballysax Stakes), Sprewell (Derby Trial Stakes), San Antonio (Dee Stakes) and Dubai Mile (Criterium de Saint-Cloud). Ridden by Moore, Auguste Rodin settled in mid-division as his stablemates San Antonio and Adelaide River took turns at setting the pace before beginning to make good progress approaching the last quarter mile. The 66/1 outsider King of Steel gained the advantage two furlongs out and briefly went clear of the field but Auguste Rodin maintained his run, caught the leader 100 yards from the finish and won by three quarters of a length.[17] Aidan O'Brien commented "all the hype of expectations were there straightaway from before he was born. He was measured, measured, measured all the way, and he was ticking the top of the measurements all the way... I remember Ryan sitting on him in the February as a two-year-old, and saying, ‘This is very special’. And then the bar is even higher... I'd say he'd have international options. This horse is going to love travelling and he's a pure mile-and-a-quarter, mile-and-a-half horse."[18]

Auguste Rodin made his next start in the Group 1 King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes on 29 July, in a field that featured horses such as Emily Upjohn, Hukum, King of Steel, Pyledriver and Westover. After running in midfield for most of the race, he dropped out into the back of the field and was eased home last as the 9/4 favorite, beaten by more than 100 lengths by winner Hukum.[19] After the race, his trainer stated that "There are no excuses. Whatever happened, the power ran out and it ran out early. (...) There is obviously a reason and we’ll find it."[20]