Auguste Rodin lands Aidan O'Brien 11th Vertem Futurity Trophy at Doncaster

The son of Deep Impact was odds-on on Friday but drifted due in part to the heavy ground before he ran out a ready winner from Epictetus and the wayward Holloway Boy.

They split into two groups when the stalls opened with Salt Lake City heading Epictetus and Auguste Rodin in the small group on the stands' side with Holloway Boy trailing the slightly bigger group at the other side of the track.

He travelled well in a first-time visor under Danny Tudhope and hit the front with two furlongs to go, but he appeared to get lonely and drifted markedly over to the stands' side group.

By the time he got over Auguste Rodin hit the front and he kept on well to beat Epictetus by three and a half lengths with Holloway Boy third.

O’Brien had made no secret of concerns about the heavy ground before the race, but he was delighted to see his charge prevail.

He said: “He’s a lovely horse, the lads (owners Coolmore) have always loved him, he’s out of Rhododendron and by Deep Impact so it was amazing to send a mare over to Deep Impact and it turns out he’s from his last crop. He’s a very smart horse but we were worried about the ground. He’s got a lovely attitude, he’s a fine big horse and a lovely mover so he has everything you’d look for in a good horse.”

O’Brien added: “Next year it depends what the lads want to do as always, but I’d imagine he’d have no trouble starting off in a Guineas and then go on after that. He’s a very smart horse and he’ll be very happy going up to a mile and a quarter and even a mile and a half in the Derby. It’s very exciting.”

Moore felt his mount deserved plenty of credit in emerged best in something of a tactical affair.

He said: “I wouldn’t say it worked out well but he’s a very good horse. Since the start of the year he always showed he had a lot of quality, he’s very natural and had good pace but he just hadn’t quite done what we thought he might, we always thought there was more there.

“He does everything with plenty of pace, he’s got a lot of quality. He had to win two races today because they were always ahead on the other side and then he had to hold Frankie off (on Epictetus). He had to beat him first and then when the other one (Holloway Boy) came over, he had to see him off. He was comfortable on the ground but he’s such a fluent mover, you are never sure if holding ground is going to suit them.”

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