Sir Henry Cecil had to be written out of history, and Aidan O’Brien did it in dramatic fashion. With this masterstroke, he became the most successful trainer in the history of the Vertem Futurity, and his once-unlikely Derby contender is now a heavy favorite to win both the Derby and the 2,000 Guineas in the next year.
Champion trainers require more than a steady supply of Coolmore bluebloods with flawless middle-distance pedigrees; they also need the guts to take risks when weather conditions are less than ideal and the brains to devise a winning strategy.
O’Brien is a proven winner of the British Classic, while Auguste Rodin, a progressive Group 2 winner and huge market floater, was given a late green light to compete in the last British Group 1 of the season.
As the field separated into two groups wide apart, more evocative of the Lincoln here in the spring than the autumn Group 1 test, Ryan Moore led the winner near the spectators’ rail from the start, trailing Wayne Lordan on stablemate Salt Lake City and Frankie Dettori on Epictetus.
Despite the unusual appearance of the situation, Moore made the right call. A quarter of a mile from the finish, he surged to the front of the pack near the spectator stands, held off Holloway Bay as the leader of the pack hung noticeably over the track to join him, and won by three and a half lengths over the late-charging Epictetus.