Tag: Ryan Moore

Daughter of Wonder Of Wonders Focus In Key Curragh Maiden

17.30 Leopardstown, Mdn, €16,000, 2yo, f, 7f 27yT
   BUTTONS (IRE) (Kingman {GB}) is the pick of Ryan Moore of the Ballydoyle trio in this always-intriguing maiden, won by the stable's September (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) and Bracelet (Ire) (Montjeu {Ire}) in recent times and in which Love (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) was fourth behind Cayenne Pepper (Ire) (Australia {GB}) in an above-average race in 2019. Out of the Listed Cheshire Oaks winner and Oaks runner-up Wonder Of Wonders (Kingmambo) and descended from Urban Sea (Miswaki), the half-sister to the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas-placed So Wonderful (War Front) is joined by Opera Singer (Justify), a half-sister to War Front's top-level scorers Hit It A Bomb and Brave Anna, and by Content (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), a daughter of the G1 Nunthorpe S. heroine Mecca's Angel (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}).

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Continents Collide as Derby Prevails Under Duress

EPSOM DOWNS, UK–Asked to hold up nine fingers to represent his number of wins in the Derby, Aidan O'Brien laughed as he deliberately counted out each one. Two more–and let's face it, he's only 53 and shows no signs of stopping–and he will need to borrow a hand from someone else to keep tally.

Only last weekend, O'Brien's record of Group or Grade 1 wins reached 400. Now it stands at 401, and the most recent addition is arguably the most important of all for the wider racing world. The 243 runnings of the Derby that have gone before have not been without controversy. From the ringer Running Rein in 1844 to the tragic death in 1913 of the suffragette Emily Davison, who threw herself under the King's horse, the Derby's history has its share of skulduggery and scandal. 

In 2020, of course, it was run a month late with barely anyone at Epsom to watch the procession of Serpentine (Ire) as Covid wrought havoc on sporting events. This year, with the racecourse and its enclosures reinforced by a ring of steel barricades and uninformed officers, it took place once more, in 2m 33.88s completed largely without incident, but under immense duress in its build-up.

Serpentine had served an important reminder, just as the 40/1 shot Wings Of Eagles (Fr) had done three years earlier, that it is never wise to rule out a challenger from Ballydoyle when it comes to the race that is still arguably prized more highly than any other by the Coolmore team. In Auguste Rodin (Ire) we had an entirely more obvious winner, though even he came here with a question mark dangling over his head after the bitter disappointment of the 2,000 Guineas. The sages always say that the Guineas is the best Derby trial, but presumably that is usually in reference to a horse who has been a running-on fourth rather than one who was beaten 22 lengths into twelfth place.

Auguste Rodin has also had something of a poignant weight of expectation on his shoulders from the early days. One of only 24 foals in the final crop of Japan's hugely influential Deep Impact (Jpn), he had been the subject of high praise from the far-from-hyperbolic Ryan Moore, according to O'Brien.

“The hype of expectations was there straightaway,” he said. “He was measured, measured, measured all the way, and he was ticking the top of the measurements all the way. And then he came to Ballydoyle and I remember Ryan sitting on him in the February as a two-year-old, and saying, 'This is very special'. And then the bar is even higher.”

O'Brien continued, “I think this is the most important horse [for Coolmore] ever, because he's out of Rhododendron, who is one of the best, if not the best, Galileo mares, and he's by probably the best Japanese stallion ever, and we know what is after happening with the Japanese breeding, and we know about our own breeding, and he's after connecting the two of them together. This horse has everything: he has temperament, he has movement, he has a personality.

“I think he's the most important horse we've ever had because he's bringing the two continents together. We've always said he is the most special horse we've had in Ballydoyle.”

Fans of Galileo might have something to say about that last statement, but, as O'Brien pointed out, his first Derby winner features as Auguste Rodin's damsire in a cross which we have already seen to good effect in his fellow Ballydoyle Classic winners Saxon Warrior (Jpn) and Snowfall (Jpn). A similar blend will be on display on Sunday in the Prix du Jockey Club when Moore partners Continuous (Jpn), who is by another son of Sunday Silence in Heart's Cry (Jpn) and is out of Fluff (Ire), a full-sister to Saxon Warrior's dam Maybe (Ire).

The Coolmore mating planners have clearly not been shy in patronising the best that Shadai's stallion roster has to offer. Speaking in the immediate aftermath of the Derby, Coolmore's MV Magnier said, “Aidan was very confident of winning. He thought that he would just bounce off the ground, and yet again he got it right.

“I just want to say a big thank you to the Yoshida family for everything they have done. They have looked after us and our mares very well and we are very grateful to them.”

Magnier also made reference to the extensive–and expensive–security operation which was in play at Epsom over the two days to safeguard the participants from the actions of protestors.

“The job that the Jockey Club and Nevin Truesdale has done is a great credit to them,” he said. “They've done a very good job and they've worked very hard and I'm just glad nothing has happened.”

That was a sentiment widely echoed by those at Epsom on Saturday. It is a desperate state of affairs that one of Britain's most historic sporting events, enjoyed by tens of thousands in person and millions more on television, could be held to ransom by a small group of activists with dubious claims to having the best interests of animals at heart. The Covid year aside, this was the most muted Derby in living memory, as a collective holding-of-breath took place on the Downs as the runners headed to post.

As a precautionary measure, the horses had been saddled in the racecourse stables and were in the parade ring for a shorter amount of time than usual. Understandable in the circumstances, but a shame for those gathered at the parade ring who love to spend time observing the physiques and, often more crucially, the demeanour of the runners prior to the biggest test of their young lives.

Following arrests during early-morning raids on houses, Derby day appeared to be proceeding without incident and, despite much grumbling as to the early start time to avoid a clash with the FA Cup final, this was in the end perhaps a mercy, so as not to prolong the trepidation.

A loud cheer went up as the 14 runners sprang from the gates on time, but within seconds a male protestor had somehow breached the lines of security along the rails on both sides of the track to burst onto the course. Moments later a woman tried to jump the fence from the grandstand side but, like her predecessor, was swiftly brought down and handcuffed. 

In the winner's circle as the presentations were concluded, Brian Finch, chair of the racecourse and an Epsom local, congratulated those connected to Auguste Rodin and admitted to a huge sense of relief that the race had been run without significant incident. 

“The pressure has come from knowing that you have a potential issue but not quite knowing where that issue will manifest, so you stay planning for multiple events, which in turns puts pressure on the team,” he said. 

“But I applaud everybody for pulling together. It's been effective. Everyone wanted to make sure that the 244th Derby actually happened and went off as close as possible to 1.30pm and we achieved that.

“Our teams will stay vigilant until the day is over. We owe it to the sport to protect the Derby, and to all the people who came before us. They took us through 243 years, through wars and everything else that went in between.”

The promotional banners inside and outside the course boasted of the Derby being 'historic, unmatchable, eternal'. The first two are undeniable. The third, we hope, is a claim we will not have to abandon any time soon. 

 

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Derby Glory For Deep Impact’s Auguste Rodin

Bouncing back from his disappointment in the 2000 Guineas, TDN Rising Star Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}–Rhododendron {Ire}, by Galileo {Ire}) conquered Epsom's undulations to carry off a ninth G1 Betfred Derby for Aidan O'Brien. Sent off at 9-2 as the punters dallied over this year's favourite, the G1 Futurity Trophy winner was kept back from the early action by Ryan Moore worse than mid-division. Launched wide as the 66-1 shot King Of Steel (Wootton Bassett {GB}) cut loose approaching two out, the bay took until the last 100 yards to wear down Amo Racing's seasonal debutante but forged ahead late on for a half-length success.

There was a 4 3/4-length gap between the Roger Varian-trained runner-up, who had trailed Auguste Rodin by nearly 10 lengths when last seen at Doncaster, and White Birch (GB) (Ulysses {Ire}) with the unlucky-in-running Sprewell (Ire) (Churchill {Ire}) beaten another 1 3/4 lengths in fourth. Predictably, Frankie's final Derby ride Arrest (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) was sent off the 4-1 favourite, but after racing prominently could only manage 10th. The winning time of 2:33.88 was 1/10 second away from that recorded by Emily Upjohn (GB) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) in Friday's G1 Coronation Cup and almost three seconds faster than the Oaks.

“He's totally unique,” the master of Ballydoyle commented after witnessing the completion of the great turnaround. “All the people in Coolmore have made this happen–it's all credit to them. He came with a massive reputation as a beautiful horse, but he kept stepping up to all the markers all the way which is very unusual. He's out of one of the greatest Galileo mares by the greatest stallion ever in Japan.”

 

“Ryan actually said he'd have preferred a lot stronger pace there and he had to quicken twice,” O'Brien added. “Everything fell against him in the Guineas, but he came out of it great which was a massive thing and every day in his work he was just getting better and more and more confident. Ryan gave him an incredible ride–he was so cool, as he knew the pressure was on him but he had a free hand going out.”

“It was Ryan who rode him last February when he was a 2-year-old and had said he was very special, so you can imagine what he was like then,” O'Brien concluded. “His movement has always been spectacular–he has such an economical way of going and is very different. We always felt he was the most special horse we have had at Ballydoyle. These type of horses come here and if they're good enough, we often have a look at the Irish Derby but the lads make all those decisions and all the options are open to him.”

Introduced over seven furlongs at The Curragh a year and two days before his Blue Riband heroics, Auguste Rodin had looked desperately unlucky to miss out on a debut win as he met serious trouble in running against the subsequent G2 Beresford S. winner Crypto Force (GB) (Time Test {GB}). Handed his TDN Rising Star badge at Naas a month later, he proved that award to be justified with wins in Leopardstown's G2 Champions Juvenile S. and Doncaster's Futurity and entered the 2000 Guineas surrounded by all the clamour and hype that Triple Crown talk generates.

In the event, the Newmarket Classic descended quickly into calamity for the Rosegreen contingent, but the past experience of the likes of Power (GB) and One Cool Cat served as a reminder that this stable's class acts can very quickly regain kudos following a dismal display there. Seven days after the fire within fellow Guineas flop Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) was successfully rekindled at Haydock, it was Auguste Rodin's turn to provide a personal renaissance at the track that is the most unforgiving of any weakness.

If luck was against Auguste Rodin at Newmarket, it was on his side here as he was handed the famous stall 10 which housed Friday's Oaks winner Soul Sister (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and from which Shahrastani, Reference Point (GB), Nashwan, Quest For Fame (GB), Generous (Ire), Galileo (Ire), Sir Percy (GB), Ruler Of The World (Ire) and Masar (Ire) all emerged. Settled back down the field as his stablemates Adelaide River (Ire) (Australia {GB}) and San Antonio (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) took over from Arrest and Frankie, the eventual winner was able to coast throughout an uneventful first mile and ended up in the Soul Sister position out wide and out of trouble entering the straight.

As the obligatory scrimmaging took place to his inner passing three out, with the runners still tanking from the downhill section onto the crazy camber, Sprewell was the one to hit the wall as happens virtually every year with Shane Foley finding the door abruptly shut. Either side of Jessie Harrington's stricken colt, Ryan Moore was going through the gears while Kevin Stott somehow managed to launch the enormous King Of Steel through the tight spaces and into the clear.

A colt the size of the runner-up should have been compromised by this terrain, but King Of Steel proved surprisingly athletic and nimble as he skipped away from the pack and his only serious pursuer two out. If Stott's Derby dream was alive and kicking for over a furlong, it was dying as Moore arrived alongside with his inimitable drive. Whether the last 100 yards was about Auguste Rodin's superiority or King Of Steel's lack of match practice will only be known when the pair encounter each other again, but this was the day of Ballydoyle's beau ideal who avenged the defeat of his dam in the 2017 Oaks.

Ryan Moore, who was garnering a third Derby, said, “We landed in a smooth spot and I was always confident I had them covered. It turned in to a bit of a dash and he was a bit babyish, but I just had to get into him in the last furlong there and he responded very gamely. He's done that quite cosily, I think.” Paying tribute to the training performance, he added, “He's the only man that could do it. I've seen him get horses back. There have been horses that have run bad in the Guineas and have come back like Roderic O'Connor and even Qualify ran bad in a Guineas and came and won an Oaks. Aidan can just do things.”

Roger Varian said of the runner-up, “He ran a terrific race, but I'm gutted really. I'm delighted with the way he behaved and his performance and I think he's a good one, but this is a bittersweet moment. Credit to the winning team and credit to mine, as he came here in great shape.” Stott added, “There are a few emotions as you hit the front in the Derby and I'm kicking myself a bit as to whether I went to the front too early. Then again, the fact that he hasn't had a run this year might have caught him out in the last 50 yards. We were beaten by a very good horse and there are better things to come I'm sure.”

George Murphy said of White Birch, whose antics at the start proved at least some of his undoing, “He just hesitated again at the gates and got himself into a difficult position, but ran a blinder and Colin [Keane] gave him a great ride considering how it played out early on. He galloped all the way to the line, so if all goes well I'd say the Irish Derby will probably be the plan. We're going to have to try and work on his starting and it's going to have to improve–he's not worried about it, he just gets a bit excited more than anything and we're over the moon just to have a horse like him.”

Pedigree Notes

Auguste Rodin, who is one of his remarkable sire's 59 top-level winners, is the first foal out of the five-times group 1-winning champion Rhododendron who was able to land a Lockinge at a mile and beat all bar Enable (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) over this course and distance. This is one of the best pedigrees anywhere, with the second dam the excellent Halfway To Heaven (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) who captured three at this level including the Irish 1000 Guineas and who also provided connections with Galileo's outstanding Magical (Ire), the seven-times group 1 winner.

Halfway To Heaven is out of the multiple group-winning sprinter supreme Cassandra Go (Ire) (Indian Ridge {Ire}), whose other black-type winners include the G3 Abernant S. and G3 Sandown Sprint S. scorer Tickled Pink (Ire) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and the G3 Summer S. winner Theann (GB) (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire). Tickled Pink produced the stable's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf winner Victoria Road (Ire) (Saxon Warrior {Jpn}), while Theann is responsible for Galileo's GI First Lady S. and GI Rodeo S. heroine Photo Call (Ire) and the G2 Richmond S.-winning first-season sire Land Force (Ire). Next up from Rhododendron is a colt foal by Dubawi (Ire).

Saturday, Epsom, Britain
BETFRED DERBY-G1, £1,561,950, Epsom, 6-3, 3yo, 12f 6yT, 2:33.88, g/f.
1–AUGUSTE RODIN (IRE), 128, c, 3, by Deep Impact (Jpn)
     1st Dam: Rhododendron (Ire) (G1SW-Fr, MG1SW-Eng, GSW & G1SP-Ire, GISP-US, $1,786,763), by Galileo (Ire)
     2nd Dam: Halfway To Heaven (Ire), by Pivotal (GB)
     3rd Dam: Cassandra Go (Ire), by Indian Ridge (Ire)
TDN Rising Star. O-M Tabor/D Smith/Mrs J Magnier/Westerberg; B-Coolmore (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien; J-Ryan Moore. £885,782. Lifetime Record: GSW-Ire, 6-4-1-0, $235,895. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–King Of Steel, 128, c, 3, Wootton Bassett (GB)–Eldacar (GB), by Verglas (Ire).
1ST BLACK TYPE, 1ST GROUP BLACK TYPE, 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. ($200,000 Ylg '21 KEESEP). O-Amo Racing Limited; B-BCF Services LLC (Bonne Chance Farm LLC) (KY); T-Roger Varian. £335,819.
3–White Birch (GB), 128, c, 3, Ulysses (Ire)–Diagnostic (GB), by Dutch Art (GB).
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. (75,000gns Wlg '20 TATFOA; 48,000gns RNA Ylg '21 TATOCT). O-Mrs C C Regalado-Gonzalez; B-Cheveley Park Stud Limited (GB); T-John Joseph Murphy. £168,066.
Margins: HF, 4 3/4, 1 3/4. Odds: 4.50, 66.00, 12.00.
Also Ran: Sprewell (Ire), The Foxes (Ire), Waipiro (Ire), Artistic Star (Ire), Adelaide River (Ire), Dubai Mile (Ire), Arrest (Ire), San Antonio (Ire), Passenger, Dear My Friend (GB), Military Order (Ire).

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Luxembourg Denies Bay Bridge In Curragh Thriller

Sunday's G1 Tattersalls Gold Cup lived up to the billing and then some, with Ballydoyle's Luxembourg (Ire) (Camelot {GB}) making all and outbattling Bay Bridge (GB) (New Bay {GB}) in a stirring finish to The Curragh's joint-feature of the day. Having put in one of those on-the-face-of-it underwhelming comeback performances that the stable's kingpins can when fifth in the G2 Mooresbridge S. here at the start of the month, last year's G1 Irish Champion S. hero took the requisite leap forward with Ryan Moore intent on taking no prisoners. Relishing the new tactic, the 11-4 outsider of the “big three” which included the bitterly disappointing Vadeni (Fr) (Churchill {Ire}) was challenged hard by Bay Bridge inside the two as they pulled clear of solid yardsticks. There was a neck between them at one stage, but by the time Luxembourg hit the line it was half a length, with six lengths back to Piz Badile (Ire) (Ulysses {Ire}) in a no-excuses contest.

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