Auguste Rodin Will Retire To Stud After Japan Cup Bid In November

The six-time Group One winner Auguste Rodin will head heading off to the Coolmore Stud later this year – but before that Aidan O’Brien’s 2023 Epsom Derby winner will be trying to win one more race – The Japan Cup.

Auguste Rodin To Retire After Final Race In Japan Cup

Having raced fiftteen times in his career, the connections of Auguste Rodin have said he’ll have just one more race before heading off to the famous Coolmore Stud in Ireland – where the likes of Galileo, Saddler’s Wells and Camelot have stood over the years.

His last horse racing contest will be the Japan Cup in Tokyo on November 24th and being a Japanese-bred Deep Impact colt, Auguste Rodin will be trying to do his sire proud in the Far East in his swansong outing.

Having raced in the UK many times, that saw him win the 2023 Epsom Derby, plus running in Dubai and also landing the Breeders’ Cup Turf in the US last season, the horse is no stranger to globetrotting around the world.

Auguste Rodin will be trying to win a seventh Group One race in the Japan Cup.

With his last success at the highest level coming just three runs ago in the G1 Prince Of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot in June.

It’s not known how much Auguste Rodin will stand for at the Coolmore Stud, but he needs just £26,630 in prize money to break through the £5 million career earnings mark.

Coolmore’s MV Magnier told the Racing Post

“Auguste Rodin is an exceptional racehorse and stallion prospect, with the blend of class, speed and pedigree that only the best possess. He is a very special horse for us, and I truly believe he ranks up there with the best middle-distance racehorses and sires that we have stood here before him, like Sadler’s Wells, Galileo, Montjeu, Caerleon and Camelot.

“Physically, he fills the eye so well as he has extra quality and movement, so I can’t wait to see his first crop in Ballydoyle in 2028. We are going to do all we can to give him the best possible opportunity to follow in his illustrious predecessors’ footsteps.”

Trainer Aidan O’Brien will be looking for his first win in the Japan Cup – but jockey Ryan Moore has ridden the winner twice before.

Moore, who has ridden Auguste Rodin in 14 of his 15 starts said “He’s been an unbelievable horse for us. We have always thought the world of him. He has everything you’d want and has so much pace. He could kill horses for speed, and he was able to stretch that out over 12 furlongs. Horses like him are so hard to find. An incredible horse.”

Last year’s Japan Cup winner Equinox also bowed out to stud after taking the race (watch below).

Auguste Rodin Last Seen Running Second In The Irish Champion Stakes

Horse racing fans last saw Auguste Rodin in action when running a neck second to the William Haggas-trained Economics in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown on 14th September (watch below) – a race he’d won in 2023.

Auguste Rodin Career In Numbers

Auguste Rodin Big Race Wins (G1’s)

When Is The Japan Cup 2024?

📅Date: November 24th 2024
🏇Racecourse: Tokyo Racecourse
💰Winner: £3,171,349.45

Has A European Horse Ever Won The Japan Cup?

The last 18 Japan Cup winners have all been trained in the country.

That said, UK jockey Ryan Moore did partner their Gentildonna to win the race for trainer Sei Ishizaka in 2013 – with the horse having also won the Japan Cup the previous year (Moore didn’t ride).

Moore added another Japan Cup in 2022 with Vela Azul, while Irish jockey Oisin Murphy cemented his name to the hall of fame when riding Suave Richard to success in 2019 – both these wins were again for Japan-based trainers.

So, you have to go back to 2005 to find the Frankie Dettori-ridden Alkaased as the last European-trained winner of the Japan Cup. The horse was looked after by Newmarket-based Luca Cumani.

Prior to that Sir Michael Stoute, who recently announced he’ll be retiring at the end of 2024, won the Japan Cup in 1996 with Singspiel and also in the following year with Pildudski in 1997.

Clive Brittain and Pat Eddery also teamed up to win the race in 1986 with Jupiter Island.

Who Won The Japan Cup Last Year (2023)?

The highest-rated flat horse in the world Equinox won the Japan Cup in 2023 – pulverising the field by four lengths (watch below).

This was the last time Equinox raced as soon after taking the race was retired to the Shadai Stallion Station Stud in Japan – where he stands for 20,000,000 JPY.

Equinox raced 10 times in his career and won eight those races – winning a staggering £14,088,378 in total prize money in the process.

Recent Japan Cup Winners

WATCH: Equinox Winning The 2023 Japan Cup