Auguste Rodin

Three top-class European invaders made the trip across to contest Sunday's G1 Japan Cup, trying to put a dent in the locals, who have more or less owned the 2400-metre feature since the turn of the century. But each was done in--to varying degrees--by a race that was run at a walking pace for the opening mile, and favoured Do Deuce (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}) ensured that the trophy would remain in Japan for another year. The 5-year-old took off from the back of the field approaching the home straight...

Three of Europe's top 2400-metre gallopers face an 11-strong local challenge in Sunday's G1 Japan Cup, looking to snap an 18-year run of success for Japanese-based horses. While it has become next to impossible for the raiders to walk away with the Tokyo spoils, that was not always the case. In the first 17 renewals, horses from overseas prevailed on no fewer than a dozen occasions, including theretofore unprecedented consecutive winners for Sir Michael Stoute with Singspiel (Ire) and Pilsudski (Ire) in 1996 and 1997, respectively. But since that time,...

Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) took to the grass at Tokyo racecourse on Wednesday ahead of the last race of his career in the Japan Cup on Sunday. His trainer Aidan O'Brien has also arrived in Japan to oversee the final stages of his preparation. "He did a lovely seven furlongs on the grass this morning, just to show him the track, and he looked comfortable," said O'Brien. "He's a horse that has speed and class, has long strides and a big action and is great at the mile-and-a-half...

It's probably now just about safe for the TDN team to leave our desks briefly without fear of another stallion fee announcement dropping into the inbox. So, now that the numbers are in, here is a little further investigation as to who's going where and for how much. There were cautionary notes among last year's stallion fee announcements, just as there have been again this time around, which is no surprise given that the foal crop in Britain and Ireland has dropped again, this time by six per cent, to...

In the blink of an eye, that's another turf season in the books, which means that this is the final Seven Days column for 2024. Next week Adam Houghton will be starting a new column which aims to keep tabs on those two-year-olds who are rising three and could make more of a name for themselves next year. An eagle-eyed former Timeform employee, Adam guarantees that if the next Notable Speech (GB) is out there, about to make his debut on the all-weather this winter before marching on to Classic...

All season we seem to have been marvelling at 'another brilliant ride by Ryan Moore.' But the man himself chuckles at the idea that this has been a special year for him. "I suppose looking back there've been good days, but you only remember the last day," he says. "We didn't win the Arc - so it doesn't feel satisfying at the moment." As he says it, he really is laughing at how a recent disappointment can obscure the glories. This is life in the super-elite of world sport, where...

The dual Derby winner Auguste Rodin (Ire) will make one final appearance in the Japan Cup on November 24 before retiring to stand at Coolmore Stud in Ireland.  The four-year-old son of Japan's breed-shaping stallion Deep Impact (Jpn) has won at the highest level in each of his seasons in training, landing the Vertem Futurity after his initial black-type success in the G2 KPMG Champions Juvenile Stakes.  At three, despite disappointing in the Qipco 2,000 Guineas on his seasonal debut, he put together a formidable CV of four Group/Grade 1...

James Doyle has been confirmed to ride Irish Derby runner-up Sunway (Fr) (Galiway {GB}) in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Qipco Stakes at Ascot on Saturday. A Group 1 winner in last season's Criterium International, David Menuisier's colt ran the best race of his three-year-old campaign when pushing Los Angeles close at the Curragh last month. With Oisin Murphy confirmed to ride the John and Thady Gosden-trained Middle Earth, Menuisier has snapped up the services of Doyle. He confirmed, "James Doyle is going to ride. He won't need...

Seventy years ago, Queen Elizabeth II won the fourth running of the race named in honour of her parents, the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes, at her own racecourse, Ascot. Aureole was a hugely appropriate winner, having been bred by King George VI in 1950, two years prior to the monarch's death. The horse's victory was widely welcomed, not least because he had been beaten a year earlier by his conqueror in the Derby, Pinza.  The 'King George' provides ones of the key pivot points in the season,...

MV Magnier has described the Japan Cup as "the main aim" for Auguste Rodin (Ire) where the six-time Group 1-winning son of Deep Impact (Jpn) will bid to bridge a gap of almost two decades to the last European-trained winner of the race.  Speaking at the JRHA Select Sale in Japan last week, Magnier firmed up plans for Auguste Rodin, who is the culmination of over 10 years of Coolmore breeding mares to Japanese-based stallions.  He also confirmed that Coolmore has supported Kitasan Black (Jpn), the sire of Equinox (Jpn),...

Royal Ascot was tremendous in myriad ways. Sun up, crowd up, and a spread of results which drew in some of the world's biggest owners and trainers alongside syndicates and smaller yards. Then on Sunday morning came the news that QIPCO is to significantly reduce its sponsorship of British racing from next year. British Champions Day will still be run in its name, and the company owned by Sheikhs Hamad and Fahad Al Thani will remain as an official partner of Ascot racecourse, but Newmarket's Guineas meeting, Ascot's King George...

There was no shortage of talking points to unpick from Wednesday. From Sands Of Mali bagging a breakthrough winner at the royal meeting to Karl Burke and Wathnan racing enjoying a change of fortune and even Ryan Moore coming out of his shell to defend Auguste Rodin, the action on and off the track did not disappoint.  Sands Of Mali Puts His Name In Lights It proved to be a big day for Ballyhane Stud's Sands Of Mali (Fr), who became the first of the freshman sires to get off...