Auguste Rodin 4-1 for Derby after Vertem Futurity victory

Auguste Rodin lived up to the hype with a smooth victory in the Vertem Futurity Trophy Stakes at Doncaster.

The Deep Impact colt was a Group Two winner last time when landing the Juvenile Stakes at Leopardstown and comfortably made the step up to Group One level.

Partnered by Ryan Moore, the son of Group One-winner Rhododendron was in a trio of runners on the stands side rail and breezed into the lead to defeat Epictetus as the 9-4 favourite.

The eight-strong field split into two groups, with the winner, his stablemate Salt Lake City and Epictetus making up the group on the near side while Stormbuster cut out the early pace for the overall lead on the far rail.

Auguste Rodin looked well in control of his task throughout, with Moore just biding his time before making his challenge, but there was some late drama as Holloway Boy hung dramatically across the track after grabbing the advantage with two furlongs to run.

His wayward course cost him plenty of ground and he had no answer to the winner or runner up in the finish, with Auguste Rodin coming home a three-and-a-half-length victor, while Epictetus had a length and three-quarters in hand over third-placed Holloway Boy.

O’Brien had made no secret of concerns about the heavy ground before the race, but he was delighted to see his charge prevail.

He said: “He’s a lovely horse, the lads (owners Coolmore) have always loved him, he’s out of Rhododendron and by Deep Impact so it was amazing to send a mare over to Deep Impact and it turns out he’s from his last crop.

“He’s a very smart horse but we were worried about the ground.

“He’s got a lovely attitude, he’s a fine big horse and a lovely mover so he has everything you’d look for in a good horse.”

Auguste Rodin was already among the leading lights in the betting for next year’s Derby before the race, but Coral now rank him as the 3-1 market leader for Epsom as well as the 5-1 joint favourite alongside stablemate Little Big Bear in the Qipco 2000 Guineas.

O’Brien added: “Next year it depends what the lads want to do as always, but I’d imagine he’d have no trouble starting off in a Guineas and then go on after that.

“He’s a very smart horse and he’ll be very happy going up to a mile and a quarter and even a mile and a half in the Derby. It’s very exciting.”

Moore felt his mount deserved plenty of credit in emerged best in something of a tactical affair.

He said: “I wouldn’t say it worked out well but he’s a very good horse. Since the start of the year he always showed he had a lot of quality, he’s very natural and had good pace but he just hadn’t quite done what we thought he might, we always thought there was more there.

“He does everything with plenty of pace, he’s got a lot of quality. He had to win two races today because they were always ahead on the other side and then he had to hold Frankie off (on Epictetus). He had to beat him first and then when the other one (Holloway Boy) came over, he had to see him off.

“He was comfortable on the ground but he’s such a fluent mover, you are never sure if holding ground is going to suit them.”

Mick Channon’s Legend Of Xanadu caused a minor upset in the Carlsberg Marstons Doncaster Stakes.

With Aidan O’Brien doubly represented by Aesop’s Fables and Hispanic, and his son Donnacha running Wodao, as well as John and Thady Gosden fielding Bresson, the race looked strong for Listed level.

Having won the Woodcote at Epsom’s Derby meeting, Legend Of Xanadu had somewhat lost his way through the summer but back on ground with plenty of cut, he stayed on stoutly to beat Aesop’s Fables by a length and a quarter.

Connor Beasley was on board and said of the 12-1 winner: “I rode him over seven furlongs the last day and he ran well to finish fourth.

“Mick has always held him in high regard and he was confident coming into this today that he had a good chance.

“I think he thrives in this deep ground and coming back in trip helped. I obviously knew he’d stay and they went a nice gallop early which helped.

“I got him into a nice rhythm and when I did ask him the question, he gave me a lot of answers.”

John and Thady Gosden’s Israr (3-1 favourite) may be back at Doncaster in a fortnight for the November Handicap following a smooth success in the Vertem Very Different Stockbrokers Handicap.

A close third at Royal Ascot, he has only been seen once since due to quick ground but relished getting his toe in, defying a mark of 99 and beating his elders in the process.

“That was good, he’s a nice horse and he’s handled the ground because he had plenty of weight,” said John Gosden.

“We’ll see what the handicapper does and hope he doesn’t punish him too much, otherwise we’ll be back in two weeks.

“We had three months that were very dry and I just backed off him. He ran in a slightly silly race with only three runners and we’ve been patient.

“We could think about the November Handicap, unless the handicapper does something silly, because I’m always mindful of the three-year-olds in that.”

Ed Dunlop has enjoyed his best season for a long time and his Queen’s Eyot (5-1) followed up a recent win at Haydock in the Vertem Leading The Field Nursery under Franny Norton.

Norton said: “It’s very soft ground but he goes through it really well.

“He won in a first-time visor the time before and it appears that and soft ground are the keys to him. He’s in the sales next week.”

George Boughey’s Totally Charming (7-1) enjoyed the drop in class having run in the Royal Hunt Cup and Cambridgeshire the last twice to win the Scott Dobson Memorial Handicap easily for Ryan Moore.