Moore delivers on the big stage yet again to secure second Derby for close ally O'Brien

It may have been Aidan O'Brien's ninth Derby, but it was only the second one he has shared with Ryan Moore. A decade after their first together with Ruler Of The World, the relationship between O'Brien and Moore seems more solid now than ever before. Two Classics on back-to-back Saturdays has swiftly turned round a season that started with the dampest of squibs at Newmarket last month. 

It is hard to believe at the end of 2020 you could have backed Moore at 7-2 with Paddy Power to remain as Ballydoyle number one the following season. At the stage Irish champion jockey Colin Keane was a 1-6 shot to land the role.

Moore and O'Brien have formed an unbreakable bond over the last decade and it was no surprise to hear the master trainer heap such praise on his precious pilot after yet another successful landing. This was one flight that couldn't afford to go wrong. 

The trainer had told us time and time again how good Auguste Rodin was, but he needed his rider to help prove him right and he did just that. 

A lot of water has passed under the bridge since the pair enjoyed their first Group 1 together on Beethoven in the Dewhurst of 2009 and almost 14 years on the Ballydoyle team has never been more powerful or prolific.

Auguste Rodin (left) pulls clear of King Of Steel to claim the DerbyCredit: John Grossick

O'Brien gets Moore and Moore gets O'Brien. 

The winning rider said of his boss: "Aidan has always believed in this horse and that's good enough for me. He has done this so many times. Maybe not from a Guineas to a Derby, but probably from a Guineas to an Oaks or an English Guineas to an Irish Guineas, so it has happened before. Sometimes horses just run badly but Aidan knows what he has and his record will never be touched.

"We were disappointed with the Guineas and we expected an awful lot more but it didn’t happen but he has had another chance today and he has taken it."

Moore took his chance too. We expect nothing less these days. He was always in the right place at the right time on Auguste Rodin. He watched everything unfold in front of him and pounced at just the right time, wearing down King Of Steel inside the final 100 yards. He was in front when it mattered most and that was all that mattered.

Cool, calm and collected. Three words Moore brings everywhere with him, even to Epsom on the biggest day of all.

Read these next:

Auguste Rodin back to his brilliant best to provide 'genius' Aidan O’Brien with a record-extending ninth Derby win  

'The confidence Aidan had in his horse you don't ignore' - Gosden full of praise for Ballydoyle master  

'I thought we had it' - agony for Amo Racing as 66-1 shot King Of Steel comes close to causing major shock 

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