Auguste Rodin performed a Lazarus-like recovery at Leopardstown - here's another you shouldn't write off

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As one of those people who always sees the glass half empty rather than half full, the immediate response to seeing Auguste Rodin win the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown on Saturday was not what a genius Aidan O'Brien is to get him back, but more how did he run so badly in the King George and the 2,000 Guineas.

I understand Auguste Rodin didn't like the ground at Ascot, but how was he beaten about half a mile out and trailed in – count them – 127 lengths behind Hukum? Deauville Legend, who finished 58 lengths in front of him, recorded a Topspeed figure of 17, and on that reckoning an asthmatic ant carrying some heavy shopping could have finished in front of Auguste Rodin.

At Newmarket when he was 12th of 14 in the Guineas he was awarded a Topspeed figure of 28 and a Racing Post Rating of 68. Most selling plater's have achieved figures higher than that in their careers and it's so hard to tally those runs with the brilliance Auguste Rodin has shown on nearly all of his other starts.

Now, before everyone gets the wrong end of the stick, not for one minute am I suggesting that O'Brien isn't one of the best racehorse trainers who has ever lived – quite the opposite – but that the confidence his staff and the Coolmore team have in him allow him to train and run his horses differently to everyone else. 

If you think about the way the Gosdens trained Kingman or Palace Pier or Enable, or the way William Haggas trained Baaeed, or Guy Harwood trained Dancing Brave, or Dick Hern trained Nashwan or Troy, or how Sir Henry Cecil trained Frankel or Oh So Sharp, there was never any chance of them finishing tailed off last.

Ylang Ylang: finished ninth of nine in the Moyglare Stud Stakes at the Curragh on Sunday Credit: CAROLINE NORRIS

If they had a brilliant horse they were brilliant from the start of their careers to the finish whether they ran on a road or in a swamp, with some dips on the way, but never a drop of the cliff one. What makes O'Brien so amazing is that a run like Auguste Rodin put in at Ascot doesn't scare any of the team, which is why you can't write off Ylang Ylang despite her finishing last in the Moyglare Stud Stakes on Sunday. 

If she was trained by Gosden, I would first off presume she was injured and, if not, immediately mark her down as hugely overrated. That is not the case with any O'Brien horse and it's probably best to scrub that Ylang Ylang run from your memory banks as quickly as possible. 

The problem is that as a punter you have to have total confidence in the trainer and tell your eyes and brain to forget what they have just seen and cogitated. My brain is screaming that Ylang Ylang is finished, just as I thought Auguste Rodin was after the Guineas and King George, but O'Brien is a different breed of cat and it's great that the team allow him to run their best horses in the best races whatever the conditions and keep the faith, despite some abject performances.

Rosallion can fly flag for the home team

With all due respect to the St Leger, the horse I'm most looking forward to seeing this weekend is Richard Hannon's Rosallion in the Champagne Stakes.

At the weekend Seamie Heffernan suggested that this year's crop of juveniles at Ballydoyle might be the best ever, while I reckon the British two-year-olds are the worst I can ever remember, which suggests that next year's colts' Classics are going to be a forgone conclusion. 

The one juvenile colt I've seen in Britain with the pretensions to being top class is Rosallion, who looked awesome at Ascot in July. That form has been boosted loads of times, especially by the runner-up at Haydock on Saturday, and the way Rosallion bounded clear of Al Musmak strongly suggested he was a horse going to the top.

Of course, there is always the Ascot factor to consider as horses can win races on the straight track there by miles if the pace collapses and Rosallion was an 11-1 shot that day, which suggests no one really thought he was going to be as good as he looked. However, I'm a Rosallion believer and while he won't be a backable price on Saturday, he might be come the Dewhurst or next year's 2,000 Guineas.

Read these next:

Champagne Stakes favoured over Curragh clash for leading Richard Hannon juvenile Rosallion 

2023 Betfred St Leger at Doncaster: assessing the top contenders for Saturday's big race 

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