Derby favourite Auguste Rodin secures favourable draw with stall 10
Derby favourite Auguste Rodin handed huge boost by securing favourable draw for Saturday’s Epsom Classic.. with the Aidan O’Brien-trained colt securing ‘lucky’ stall 10 – which has produced 10 winners since 1967
- Auguste Rodin will start from stall 10 in the 14-runner line-up on Saturday
- Ten Derby winners have emerged from stall 10, most recently Masar in 2018
- Auguste Rodin will be bidding to bounce back from setback in 2,000 Guineas
The chance of Betfred Derby favourite Auguste Rodin has been boosted after he was given a draw which has historically proved favourable starting from stall 10 in the 14-runner line-up.
Since starting stalls were first used in the Derby in 1967, 10 winners have emerged from stall 10, most recently Masar in 2018. That makes it easily the most successful stall slot.
Auguste Rodin, the 11-4 favourite, will be bidding to bounce back from a disappointing run in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket.
But his pedigree suggests the extra half-mile will suit him and trainer Aidan O’Brien, who has described the colt as a ‘collectors’ item’ says his faith is in horse in undiminished with the soft ground in the 2,000 Guineas and getting into a tangle with stablemate Little Big Bear viable excuses.
O’Brien, who reckons the Guineas was a ‘mess of a race’, said: ‘Auguste Rodin has always been very special from day one and nothing has changed our mind.’
Derby favourite Auguste Rodin has secured a favourable draw for Saturday’s big race at Epsom
Frankie Dettori will start from stall 13 on Arrest for his final Derby ride, surrounded by O’Brien runners with the Irish trainer’s San Antonio in stall 12 and Adelaide River widest of all in stall 14.
Dettori said: ‘I’m pleased with that. If I had been given the choice beforehand then I’d rather be high than low, but in this day and age when we don’t have a huge number of runners – not like back in the day – I don’t look into it that much.
‘It’s all about having the best horse, simple as that.’
Irish trainer John Murphy will hope Dettori is right. His Dante Stakes runner-up White Birch starts from stall two which has never housed a Derby winner.
Two horses were scratched at the final declaration stage. O’Brien’s Covent Garden wasn’t expected to run but Alder, trained by O’Brien’s son Donnacha, was pulled out after a scope showed he was not 100 per cent.
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