Auguste Rodin

LONDON, UK -- Japan stole the show at the Longines World Racing Awards in London, with Silk Racing's Equinox (Jpn) (Kitasan Black {Jpn}) named the Longines World's Best Racehorse for 2023 while the G1 Japan Cup claimed the title of Longines World's Best Horse Race. The top-rated three-year-old filly in the world was Japan's Triple Tiara winner Liberty Island (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}). Equinox's top rating of 135 - the highest ever awarded to a Japanese horse - was achieved in his four-length romp in the Japan Cup, his final appearance...

Since the publication of Patrick Cooper's letter suggesting that the Irish Derby should be shortened in distance we have had a predictably mixed response in correspondence on the subject. You can find Cooper's letter in full here. In essence, it highlights the fortunes of two Frankel colts, the Irish Derby and Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud winner and Arc runner-up Westover and the Dewhurst and 2,000 Guineas winner Chaldean, both of whom raced for Juddmonte. The latter is now a Juddmonte stallion at Banstead Manor Stud, while Westover is about to...

"The Breeders' Cup is always very special and to see a young sire like Justify get two Grade I-winning juveniles was fantastic but for me it had to be Auguste Rodin winning the Breeders' Cup Turf. He was in a hopeless position along the rail and had to be exceptional to get up for the victory. He's a colt that could stand anywhere in the world and physically he's quite similar to his grandsire Sunday Silence. It would be great to see him back at the Breeders' Cup this year...

Continuing the profiles of the favourite horses of TDN Europe's editorial team in 2023, Tom Frary selects the horse he believes is the best of Aidan O'Brien's nine Derby winners. Sectional timing wasn't around when Dancing Brave tanked down the outer to get within just under a length of Shahrastani in 1986. If it had been, we'd have been able to gauge just how unlucky he was (he was). Maybe if it had been there could also have been a proper assessment of whether El Gran Senor should have prevailed...

It may be November but Aidan O'Brien has already whet the appetite for next season by announcing that dual Derby and Breeders' Cup winner Auguste Rodin will stay in training as a four-year-old. Auguste Rodin capped off a brilliant campaign with a sensational success in the Breeders' Cup Turf at Santa Anita under an inspired Ryan Moore just over a week ago.  It was viewed by many as the perfect swansong by the coveted son of Deep Impact but, when Auguste Rodin did not feature on the list of stallion...

Two of the planet's top jockeys, Ryan Moore and Irad Ortiz, Jr., were penalized by the Santa Anita Park stewards for riding infractions aboard winning mounts on the Nov. 4 Breeders' Cup program. Moore was fined $20,800 and suspended one day (Nov. 12) for being one whip strike over the limit of six when guiding 5-2 favorite Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}) to victory in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf. Under Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) rules, the fine equates to 10% of Moore's personal purse winnings from...

More than $100,000 was raised during this year's Breeders' Cup Pledge, New Vocations Racehorse Adoption Program announced Monday. That total was driven by four horses with pledge connections--Fierceness (City of Light), Unquestionable (FR) (Wootton Bassett {GB}), Goodnight Olive (Ghostzapper) and Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn})--winning their races on Future Stars Friday and Championship Saturday. Additional pledges are still coming in as of Monday and final donations are being tallied. Now in its 14th year, the Pledge has raised more than a million dollars, with 100 percent of funds going...

ARCADIA, USA -- They got what they came for. Breeders' Cup Saturday delivered two storybook results right off the bat: victory for the fabled Cody's Wish (Curlin) and a 15th win at the championships for Frankie Dettori, whose thoughts of retirement are now firmly consigned to the past. And that was just in the first two races. Amid a huddle of reporters by the tunnel entrance as the runners went to post for the GI Breeders' Cup Turf, one of the most seasoned of American racing writers muttered, "The suspense...

Announced as a season-ending target long before such announcements are typically made, the GI Longines Breeders' Cup Turf proved fertile ground for the Coolmore partners' Auguste Rodin (Ire) (Deep Impact {Jpn}), who enjoyed what turned out to be a dream trip beneath Ryan Moore, got through when the real running commenced at the head of the lane and charged to the wire to defeat top U.S. hope Up to the Mark (Not This Time). It was a sixth victory in the mile-and-a-half second-richest race on the card for trainer Aidan...

ARCADIA, USA -- In case you're wondering, Aidan O'Brien had scrambled eggs for breakfast. That was just after he had watched his squad of ten take a stronger turn around Santa Anita's dirt track and before he had a chance to consider a second course at the lavish buffet by politely stepping outside to answer questions from a few annoying hacks, this one included. Ryan Moore has been aboard Friday's GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint contender Cherry Blossom (Ire) (No Nay Never) these last two mornings. "Is that a...

ARCADIA, USA--Against the most stunning backdrop in world racing, just as the pre-dawn sky started to pinken with promise, a metaphorical dark cloud was cast across Santa Anita racetrack. Practical Move (Practical Joke), a leading contender for the Breeders' Cup Dirt Mile, collapsed and died of an apparent heart attack on his way back in from exercise in front of onlookers on the apron. The screens arrived eventually, but not soon enough to remind those present of the occasionally desperate nature of the sport we love, and how such a...

With a royal audience, Continuous (Jpn) became the seventh winner of the St Leger for Aidan O'Brien, relegating the King and Queen's runner Desert Hero (GB) to third, just as Pour Moi (Ire) had done in the Derby with Carlton House back in 2011 in front of the late Queen. There were plenty of strands to an enthralling St Leger that would have made for good storylines: two of those, victory for Desert Hero with his owners present on Town Moor, or a final British Classic for Frankie Dettori, may...