Aidan O’Brien’s Auguste Rodin Eyed for Japan Cup After King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes

The impressive Auguste Rodin, last year’s Epsom Derby hero, has emerged as a potential contender for the prestigious Japan Cup later this year, following his upcoming run in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot.

After starting his four-year-old campaign at a mile and a half in Meydan, the son of the late Japanese superstar Deep Impact has since dropped back to 10 furlongs, adding the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot to the Irish Champion Stakes he won over a mile and a quarter last year.

Trainer Aidan O’Brien’s Perspective

Trainer Aidan O’Brien revealed that connections were tempted to target the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown with Auguste Rodin, but ultimately decided to focus on the King George at Ascot, where he will be looking to become the first Derby winner since Golden Horn in 2015 to triumph.

“Ascot was his first big-race target of the year we felt, and there was always the possibility that if it did go well, we would go back to Ascot for the King George,” said O’Brien.

With Coolmore stablemate City Of Troy set to take on the older horses in the Eclipse, the master of Ballydoyle suggested that the Japan Cup could be a potential end-of-year option for Auguste Rodin, leaving the road to the Breeders’ Cup Classic clear for City Of Troy.

“Auguste Rodin could be a Japan Cup horse,” continued O’Brien. “He has won at the Breeders’ Cup already, and maybe the lads might do that, and maybe City Of Troy could be a horse for the Classic.”

As Coolmore’s two most recent Epsom heroes continue to carve out their paths, O’Brien is in no rush to expose City Of Troy to dirt ahead of a potential Breeders’ Cup Classic challenge, with a trip to Southwell mooted to garner experience on a similar surface.

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