Irish Derby Preview: An each way play against Auguste
The Irish Derby is dominated by the names O'Brien, with Donnacha and Joseph having a runner apiece while the master Aidan brings five to The Curragh. The hotshot for the race is of course Aidan's Auguste Rodin who was so impressive in winning The Derby at Epsom. Billy Grimshaw thinks he should go on to complete the double, but offers a word of caution and recommends one at juicy odds to back each-way...
Auguste Rodin looked out of the very top drawer as a juvenile and after his no-show in the 2000 Guineas, got right back on track with a career best performance to grind down King Of Steel at Epsom to grab Derby glory. The way King Of Steel won the King Edward at Royal Ascot showed what a talented horse he is so for Auguste Rodin to have reeled him in shows the class of O'Brien's star colt.
He will take the world of stopping and there is no reason, barring underperformance, to believe either White Birch (third at Epsom) or Sprewell (fourth in the same race) could reverse form, but if forced to back one in a match bet I'd lean toward White Birch upholding the form. Sprewell met plenty of traffic at Epsom and should appreciate this return to a more conventional track, but White Birch will enjoy it more and his stamina means if placed closer to the pace he could give Auguste Rodin something to think about.
The Epsom hero will hope to keep up an interesting quirk for Ballydoyle Derby winners since 2013, with their record in the Irish Derby after winning at Epsom reading as follows: Camelot (2012) 1st @ 1/5Fav, Ruler Of The World (2013) 2nd @ 8/11Fav, Australia (2014) 1st @ 1/8Fav, Antony Van Dyck (2019) 2nd @ 5/4Fav. Auguste Rodin certainly looks in the Camelot and Australia mould, but this race is an acid test for him.
We saw at Royal Ascot that we should never rule out one of the Ballydoyle brigade as they are all regally bred, trained by the best and can come on at varying rates. Age Of Kings caused a 50/1 shock and so there is no definitive way to rule out Peking Opera and Covent Garden, Adelaide River and San Antonio look very well held by the favourite and the two placed horses from Epsom.
All the time boffins raved about Auguste Rodin's turn of foot at Epsom and the way in which he won the race, under a Ryan Moore drive showed his stamina will not be a concern. The rest of the Ballydoyle batallion will undoubtedly be riding to instruction to set the race up for their illustrious stablemate and although this track should suit White Birch better than Epsom, where he was unbalanced, the hope is it suits Auguste Rodin more.
Just two horses in the field not yet mentioned then and as is the domination of family O'Brien in Ireland on the flat, they are trained by Aidan's sons Donnacha and Joseph. I was almost as dismissive of Donnacha's runner Proud And Regal as I was with the well beaten Epsom Ballydoyle runners, mainly because in his run behind Sprewell he looked to be crying out for a drop in trip to a mile. He was granted just that in the Irish 2000 Guineas, only to run no sort of race and weaken into seventh. A smart juvenile he looks to have gone off the boil.
That brings us to UP AND UNDER for Joseph O'Brien. He has been beaten fair and square by White Birch and Sprewell in his last couple of starts, but has looked a real baby of a three year old, which is why his handler opted to swerve Epsom. O'Brien has been quoted as saying his colt will 'love' the Curragh and is one they expect big things of in the future. Maybe this race will come too soon for this son of Lope De Vega, and maybe he is facing an impossible task trying to get the better of Auguste Rodin, but at over double the price of the Epsom placed horses and with a lighter preparation coming in, he is worth backing each-way.
