Auguste Rodin adds Irish Derby to his victory list
Auguste Rodin became the 19th horse to win the English and Irish Derby when he pushed past his Aidan O’Brien-trained stablemate Adelaide River to win the 1 1/2-mile Classic on Sunday at The Curragh.
It was the 15th Irish Derby win for O’Brien, but the first for jockey Ryan Moore. O’Brien also sent out the runner-up, Adelaide River, who stayed on bravely after being headed by odds-on favorite Auguste Rodin in the final quarter-mile.
The victory was cast in shadow by the catastrophic breakdown of another O’Brien horse, San Antonio, with about 700 meters to race. San Antonio was pressing outside leading Adelaide River when he appeared to break his right-front leg. The horse was euthanized and his jockey, Wayne Lordan, taken to a hospital after falling in front of several trailing horses. San Antonio, by Dubawi, won the Chester Vase earlier this year.
The injury occurred just outside and in front of Moore and Auguste Rodin, who were then forced to move toward the leader earlier than likely had been planned. At first, it appeared Auguste Rodin would swoop to an easy victory; instead, the colt had to put in some work to edge clear of his stable companion.
Covent Garden, yet another O’Brien charge, finished third, more than two lengths behind Adelaide River.
Auguste Rodin is by Deep Impact out of Rhododendron, by Galileo, and won his third Group 1 following the Derby and the Vertem Futurity Trophy last fall at Doncaster.
***At Hamburg in Germany, Fantastic Moon, 17th at the head of the homestretch, rallied impressively to win the Group 1 German Derby by 2 1/2 lengths over Mr Hollywood. Jockey Rene Piechulek took Fantastic Moon all the way out to the stand’s side rail, far across the track from Mr Hollywood, and despite coming from so far behind won going away. Sarah Steinberg, Piechulek’s partner, trains Fantastic Moon, who now has won three of his four starts. The colt is by Sea the Stars out of Frangipani, by Jukebox Jury.
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