Aidan O’Brien has admitted to being concerned about the ground at Doncaster ahead of Derby favourite Auguste Rodin’s intended appearance in Saturday’s Vertem Futurity Trophy.
The master of Ballydoyle has saddled 10 previous winners of the Town Moor Group One, a joint record with the late Sir Henry Cecil.
He has the chance to become the race’s most successful trainer outright if either Auguste Rodin or his stablemate Salt Lake City can prevail this weekend, although the participation of the likely favourite appears far from certain.
Auguste Rodin had to settle for second on debut behind Beresford Stakes scorer Crypto Force, but is unbeaten since and shot to the top of the betting lists for next year’s Epsom Classic when securing Group Two honours at Leopardstown on Irish Champions Weekend.
Speaking on Sky Sports Racing on Friday evening, though, O’Brien warned: “He definitely doesn’t want heavy ground – he’s a beautiful moving horse with loads of class.
“His mother (Rhododendron) won in soft ground and I suppose we’ll have to see, but he’s definitely not a soft ground horse.
“Nobody has really seen what he can do yet on the track. The ground is obviously not ideal, but he’s very fit and came forward loads from Leopardstown.
“Whether it’s the right thing to bottom him on bad ground or not, I’m not sure – the lads (owners) will have a discussion about what they want to do.
“We’re very happy with the place he’s in at the moment and obviously the heavy ground is the unknown thing. Whether we let him run for experience or keep him for next year, we’ll see. It’s all going to depend on how bad that ground is.”
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