Ascot: Auguste Rodin leads 3 for O'Brien in King George

Auguste Rodin leads a three-strong Aidan O’Brien challenge on the Group 1 King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot on Saturday. The 1 1/2-mile race is an automatic qualifier for the Breeders' Cup Turf, which Auguste Rodin won last year.

The son of Deep Impact looked back on song on his latest start as he recorded a sixth Group 1 victory in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot.

If successful, Auguste Rodin would become the third Derby winner to take the King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes as a 4-year-old, following Royal Palace in 1968 and Teenoso in 1984.

He is joined by four-time Group 1 victor Luxembourg, who added to his tally in the Coronation Cup last time out, and Hans Andersen.

O’Brien, a four-time winner of the 12-furlong showpiece with Galileo in 2001, Dylan Thomas in 2007, Duke Of Marmalade in 2008 and Highland Reel in 2016, said, “We have been very happy with Auguste Rodin, and the plan always was to come here after the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes.

“In last year’s King George, it was soft ground and we probably held him up too much. When Ryan (Moore) felt he was not going to win, he eased him out of it, and the run probably was not as bad as it looked.

“The plan for Auguste Rodin after Ascot is the Japan Cup, which will be very exciting, and he could have a run somewhere in between.

“Luxembourg won the Coronation Cup over a mile and a half, which we thought would suit him. He is in very good form as well.”

With six individual Group 1 winners in the lineup, the leading contenders also include Godolphin’s globetrotting star Rebel’s Romance, trained by Charlie Appleby and a Group 1 scorer in four countries, and recent Pretty Polly Stakes (G1) winner Bluestocking, trained by Ralph Beckett.

Dubai Honour captured two Group 1 prizes in Australia last year and most recently tasted victory in the Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud (G1), while Irish Derby (G1) runner-up Sunway ended last season with top-level success in France’s Criterium International.

The French challenge comes courtesy of Goliath, who was second in the Hardwicke Stakes (G2) at Royal Ascot, one place ahead of the reopposing Middle Earth.

The race is part of the British Champions Series.