9-2 Auguste Rodin triumphs in the 244th Epsom Derby to hand Aidan O’Brien his ninth win at the showpiece event… but there’s no fairytale send-off for Frankie Dettori and an animal rights activist is arrested for storming the track

• Auguste Rodin claimed victory in the 2023 Epsom Derby on Saturday afternoon
• The win marks trainer Aidan O’Brien’s ninth triumph in premier flat racing event
• Legendary jockey Frankie Dettori finished tenth with Arrest in his final derby  

Auguste Rodin showed why Aidan O’Brien’s faith in him was undiminished by his dismal run the 2,000 Guineas as the Ryan Moore-ridden 9-2 shot gave the trainer a remarkable ninth Betfred Derby win with a half-length win from King of Steel.

After threats of disruption from animal rights activists were snubbed out at Epsom, the 244th running of the Britain’s most important Flat race was an uneventful relief for organisers with no hard-luck stories.

The only disappointment for the crowd that annually gathers on the Downs and the millions watching around the world on television was that there was no final dream ride for Frankie Dettori.

His mount Arrest started 4-1 favourite and was perfectly placed in third rounding Tattenham Corner. But as the race hotted up Arrest slipped tamely back to finish 10th of the 14 starters.

Irish raider White Birch stayed on for third but in reality the mile-and-a-half-race only concerned two horses in the final quarter mile as Auguste Rodin made most of his opponents look like statues and ground down Roger Varian-trained 66-1 shot King of Steel who had looked like he might pull off one of the biggest shocks in Derby history.

9/2 Auguste Rodin took over outsider King Of Steel on the final straight to win the 2023 Epsom Derby

At the start of the season O’Brien, the most successful trainer in Derby history, had said Auguste Rodin, owned by the Coolmore Stud partners, was special and a possible contender to be the first winner of the Triple Crown – awarded for landing the 2,000 Guineas, Derby and St Leger – since Lester Piggott Nijinsky in 1970.

That hope was dashed with his Guineas defeat last month.

But O’Brien’s belief in the colt sired by Japanese champion Deep Impact with his dam being outstanding mare Rhododendron, who won three group one races and finished second to the brilliant Enable in the 2017 Oaks, is now justified and provides hope that this year’s Derby has produced a true champion.

O’Brien, who may run Auguste Rodin next in the Irish Derby, said: ‘I remember Ryan sitting on him in the February of his two-year-old year and saying, ‘this is very special’’.

‘We always felt the Guineas was going to be his toughest assignment and you need things to fall your way. But two days before the Guineas things started falling the other way. His flight over was cancelled and then the (soft) ground fell against him so really we just felt it was a non-event.

Victory marks jockey Ryan Moore’s third Epsom Derby win and trainer Aidan O’Brien’s fourth 

‘We felt he was the most special horse we’ve ever had but obviously we had to keep the faith. It was the acid test today.’

Moore, who was winning the Derby for a third time after Workforce (2010) and Ruler of The World (2013), added: ‘I always felt in control of the race. I thought I had it won as soon as I crossed the road (three-and-a-half furlongs from the finish. Quicker ground was a big help to him. He felt like he was doing it easy.’

While there was joy in the O’Brien camp, it was anguish in the Varian team for the near-miss of King Of Steel.

A first ride in the race for Kevin Stott, it looked for a few strides as if the giant colt who carries the colours of football agent Kia Joorabchian would win as he nicked a two length lead.

A protester ran onto to the race track prior to the event in a bid to disrupt proceedings

King Of Steel’s preparation had been unconventional to say the least. It was only his third career run and his seasonal debut after he had been withdrawn at the start of York’s Dante Stakes.

That had meant King Of Steel had had to pass a stalls test at Leicester on Monday in order to start in the Derby.

Varian said: ‘We are gutted. We knew he was good.’

Dettori’s disappointment was tempered by fact that he knew the drying Epsom ground was against Arrest.

The 52-year-old Italian said: ‘He was everywhere with legs all over the place. I tried to nurse him down the hill but he was beaten three out.’

However they were quickly apprehended and police removed them from the event

There may have been no fairy-tale but there was a consolation prize as Dettori won the next race, the Princess Elizabeth Stakes, on Ralph Beckett-trained 6-4 favourite Prosperous Voyage.

It was his last ever ride at the track and the crowd got what they wanted – a flying dismount. Dettori knelt down and kissed the turf in the Epsom winner’s enclosure.

It is a scene which will be repeated this Summer. He will be sick of the taste of grass by the time he has his last ride in Britain on October 21.

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