Auguste Rodin triumphed at Royal Ascot under Ryan Moore to give trainer Aidan O’Brien his 400th top-level Group or Grade One win on the Flat.
The 13-8 favourite, winner of the English and Irish Derbys last year, held off French challengers Zarakem and Horizon Dore to win the Prince of Wales’s Stakes.
After an earlier victory with Illinois, it sealed a double for O’Brien and Moore – who has equalled Frankie Dettori’s mark of 81 winners at the meeting.
Moore and Dettori are the leading active jockeys at the Ascot fixture, while the late Lester Piggott holds the all-time record of 116 victories.
It was a sixth Group One success for Auguste Rodin, who claimed Irish Champion Stakes and Breeders’ Cup wins last season but also suffered lacklustre defeats in the 2,000 Guineas and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes.
“He’s a fantastic horse. A few times it hasn’t happened, but there were reasons every time,” said Moore.
O’Brien said Moore’s positive tactics helped Auguste Rodin, adding: “Honestly, I feel the blips were my fault, the instructions were wrong, and it was time to start getting it right.”
Second favourite Inspiral started slowly and finished sixth.
Murphy double on Running Lion and Wild Tiger
Moore had secured his 80th Royal Ascot victory as 7-4 favourite Illinois won the Queen’s Vase from Highbury in a 1-2 for trainer O’Brien.
It was an eighth win in the race for O’Brien, which matches the record of Sir Henry Cecil.
Big-spending owners Wathnan Racing – headed by Sheikh Tamim, the emir of Qatar – bought several horses for Ascot in the build-up to the meeting and struck in Wednesday’s opening Queen Mary Stakes.
The 22-1 chance Leovanni, trained by Karl Burke, stormed clear in the final furlong under James Doyle, with Gavin Cromwell’s 50-1 chance Mighty Eriu in second.
Running Lion (6-1) gave jockey Oisin Murphy his second victory of the 2024 meeting in the Duke Of Cambridge Stakes.
Trainers John and Thady Gosden had the first two home, with the grey winning from stablemate Laurel, who was returning from a 396-day absence.
And Murphy clocked up another as Wild Tiger won the Royal Hunt Cup for Godolphin trainer Saeed bin Suroor.
The 11-2 joint favourite held on by a head from the fast-finishing Sonny Liston, runner-up for the second year running for Ralph Beckett.
But Beckett had immediate compensation in the Kensington Palace Stakes thanks to the well-bred Doha, a son of Sea The Stars and Treve, ridden by Hector Crouch.
Ain’t Nobody was well backed in the Windsor Castle Stakes and the support proved justified as Jamie Spencer guided the 5-1 chance to victory for Kevin Ryan.
Thursday’s Royal Ascot schedule – Kyprios runs on Ladies’ Day
Day three of Royal Ascot is Ladies’ Day, which features the big race of the week – the Gold Cup.
The 2022 champion Kyrpios, who missed the race last year, will bid to win again for O’Brien and become the first horse to regain the title since Kayf Tara in 2000.
All race times BST
14:30: Norfolk Stakes (Group 2)
15:05: King George V Stakes
15:45: Ribblesdale Stakes (Group 2)
16:25: Gold Cup (Group 1)
17:05: Britannia Stakes (Heritage Handicap)
17:40: Hampton Court Stakes (Group 3)
18:15: Buckingham Palace Stakes
