AUGUSTE RODIN REWARDED those who kept the faith with a brilliantly determined victory in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot – providing trainer Aidan O’Brien with a 400th Group or Grade One triumph on the Flat.
The son of Deep Impact is a superb colt on his day, as evidenced by his big-race successes in the Derby, Irish Derby, Irish Champion Stakes and Breeders’ Cup Turf last season.
However, he has also not been the easiest to predict, disappointing as a hot favourite in both the 2000 Guineas and the King George as a three-year-old and on his four-year-old debut in the Dubai Sheema Classic, while he was no match for White Birch on his most recent outing in the Tattersalls Gold Cup.
Despite the doubts, Auguste Rodin was the 13-8 market leader to show his true colours once more and tracked the pacesetting pair of Snobbish and Hans Andersen into the straight, before hitting the front under Ryan Moore.
He was strongly challenged by the French-trained duo of Zarakem and Horizon Dore in the final furlong, but answered Moore’s every call to see off the former by three-quarters of a length.
Moore said: “He’s a great little horse.
“OK, a few times it hasn’t happened, but there have been reasons every time. The King George was maybe coming after a hard run in both Derbys, which is a hard thing to do.
“He took me there, going very well, and when I asked him he really showed great courage. He wanted to win.
“He’s a proper horse.”
Amazing how many of these tales looking back with regret young lads not realising the opportunity they had. No doubt awareness, attitude, application, education, etc are all needed to go with skill and ability, the more rounded the kid the better chance he has.
@Nick: all these interviews are with guys that didnt make the most of the career they had for a variety of reasons and they do deserve to be heard. However the real tragedy is the 100′s that give everything to football from 12 – 22yrs of age & dont even get a short career, left with no education, no skills & a bleak future.
@James Kearney: exactly, big clubs suck 100s of children and parents in give them glimpses of the big time in the off and remote chance they may make it. Come 19 or 20 a harsh decision is made and vast majority get a good luck and thanks for your time. Has to be more responsibility from clubs point of view, their education must still be the priority not the lining of millionaires pockets.
@James Kearney: absolutely. I played at a decent level but I was lucky enough to know I was never good enough to make it and knew I’d have to make a living elsewhere.. So many lads I played with chased the dream and had nothing to fall back on when they fell short.
@James Kearney: English football clubs have chewed up and spat out many young Irish men. My club alone, in backwater in mayo, has had a few lads go across in their early teens and have ultimately come back after being homesick and falling out of love with football. Two of them have been captains of their youth teams. Back home with no education and the stigma of ‘there’s the lad that didn’t make it’. The FAI don’t care about our young talent. You either make it if you’re good enough or its good luck, there’s the door. If they did, they’d invest in LOI and we’d retain our youth until they were mentally mature enough to make the venture across.
Great article. Fascinating story.
How much was he earning st Sunderland, Dunfermline and at Hartlepool Utd? Did he earn enough to invest in properties, pension?
@Ken Curran: not a lot probably
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