Auguste Rodin ready to banish King George demons

Auguste Rodin will bid for King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes redemption at Ascot on Saturday, where he could also set up a tantalising tilt at the Japan Cup.

There is no doubting the star quality of Aidan O'Brien’s four-year-old, who has dazzled on numerous occasions throughout his career and boasts six Group One triumphs.

However, one major blip came when sent off favourite in this very race 12 months ago, where he trailed in last of the 10 runners in the hands of Ryan Moore.

He somewhat proved that was only a minor setback by going on to score in both the Irish Champion Stakes and the Breeders’ Cup Turf at the back end of the season, with O’Brien putting his Ascot defeat down to both ground conditions and the instructions he gave his jockey.

The Ballydoyle handler said: "Last year, it was soft ground and we probably held him up too much.

"When Ryan felt he wasn’t going to win, he just eased him back out of it. Ryan does that sometimes and his run was a lot better than it looked, he was thinking of the next day. But he came out of the race very well."

Auguste Rodin flopped again in March’s Dubai Sheema Classic but after a solid Tattersalls Gold Cup second, he went some way to erasing any Ascot demons when getting off the mark at four with a terrific display in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at the Royal meeting.

The Coolmore team are already eyeing taking the son of Deep Impact back to his father’s homeland for a shot at the Japan Cup.

"We’re very happy with him. The plan was always to go to Ascot after the Prince of Wales’s Stakes," continued O’Brien.

"He will have one more run at the King George. We may go somewhere after that, but the ultimate goal is to get him to the Japan Cup, which would be very exciting."

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