All eyes will be on which Auguste Rodin turns up in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes on day two at Royal Ascot.
Will it be the one who romped to victory in the Derby and again the Irish Derby before overcoming an apparent issue with flying to win the Breeders’ Cup Turf?
Or will it be the one that was dead last on its last Royal Ascot appearance and has looked woeful in such races as the 2,000 Guineas, the King George and the Sheema Classic?
Aidan O’Brien is confident he has got one of the more mercurial horses under his tutelage to be firing at the right time and, on his day, he is well clear of the rest of the chasing pack.
But he is winless in 2024 and was undone by the ground for the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh and things will be much firmer under foot today.
“The rain just came at the wrong time for him at the Curragh and he had a little wobble in the race too which Ryan [Moore] said just knocked him out of his rhythm a bit,” said O’Brien.
“We’ve had the Prince of Wales’s in mind for him all season and we think he has come forward nicely from his run in the Tattersalls Gold Cup. Nice ground is perfect for him. We’re very happy.”
For O’Brien, it is an attempt to win the race for a fifth time and the biggest threat is likely to come from the John Gosden-trained Inspiral hoping to bounce back from a lacklustre showing at Newbury last month.
