Auguste Rodin Puts Himself in Arc Mix

Dual Derby winner Auguste Rodin put a marker down for the premier turf race in Europe, the 2023 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, with victory in the Irish Champions Stakes. The three-year-old colt won a strong renewal of the feature race on Irish Champions Weekend at Leopardstown.

The runner, trained by Aidan O’Brien, is now thought to head to Longchamp for the middle-distance race in early October. If successful, he will be the first Derby winner to win that race in the same year since Golden Horn managed the double in 2015.

Ever since he made his debut on the track as a two-year-old, O’Brien has been in high praise of Auguste Rodin. Success in the Arc, where he is 10/1 in the Paddy Power racing odds, would make him one of the most successful colts of the modern era.

With a 7lb weight allowance for three-year-olds in the Arc, the Irish horse is likely to be one of the leading horse racing tips for the race in France. He has shown he has the stamina for the distance, and he is likely to be joined in the saddle by Ryan Moore, one of the leading jockeys in Europe.

O’Brien has won the Arc twice in his career. He was successful in 2007 with Dylan Thomas, while in 2016, he scored with Found, as reported by the BBC. Should he complete his hat-trick in 2023, it will cap off what has been an excellent year for the Irish Champion Trainer.

The leading French hope in this year’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is thought to be Ace Impact. The three-year-old colt won the French Derby earlier this season, one of five victories this year for the unbeaten horse.

Trained by Jean-Claude Rouget, the runner made his final appearance before the Arc in the Group Two Prix Guillaume d’Ornano at Deauville in August. He stayed on very strongly in that 1m2f contest to reel in the leaders in the final furlong.

The son of legendary race-horse Cracksman, Ace Impact will not mind any rain in the lead-up to the meeting at Longchamp as he has won on soft and heavy ground.

Two-time Group One winner Hukum featured just once in 2022 after suffering an injury in training. He made a return to action at Sandown back in May where he beat former Derby winner Desert Crown in the Brigadier Gerard Stakes.

Hukum then won one of the hottest races of the season in the UK in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes. He beat Auguste Rodin, Emily Upjohn, King Of Steel and others in that race at Ascot to put himself in the mix for the Arc at the end of the campaign.

At the age of six, should Hukum prove successful in the 2023 Arc, he will be the oldest winner of the race since Motrico scored in 1932.

The 2023 Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe takes place on the 8th of October, the second and final day of the meeting in Paris, giving fans plenty of time to do their research and look forward to the long-awaited event.