'He has always been special, nothing has changed our minds' - is leading Derby fancy Auguste Rodin the real deal?

The time for talking is over. Auguste Rodin now needs to go out and prove what Aidan O'Brien and everyone else in Ballydoyle has been saying for the last year is fact rather than fiction. This is D-day.

Everything that could have gone wrong in the 2,000 Guineas did go wrong. The travelling, the ground, the pace of the race, his trip during it. From start to finish it was a tale of woe and his trainer is willing to simply put a line through it.

Everything he has seen from him otherwise suggests he is top notch and he does, of course, have that Group 1 Vertem Futurity Trophy win as a juvenile on his CV to back up his argument.

O'Brien is already the most successful trainer in the history of the great race, winning it eight times. His first was in 2001 with Galileo and his most recent was the shock Serpentine sprung in 2020. He has been responsible for five favourites since 2014, but only Australia justified that tag.

Speaking about Auguste Rodin, who is the mount of dual Derby winner Ryan Moore, O'Brien said: "We've been very happy with him since Newmarket. There were a lot of factors that happened there which we couldn't control and we haven't seen anything since to suggest we should veer from our original plan.

"Running him over that short a trip meant every single beat had to go his way and instead every single beat went the opposite way. He is a beautiful moving horse so soft ground was always going to be a worry for him. The trip was going to be plenty short for him too. He needed a clear run and, when Little Big Bear got galloped into, he wiped out Ryan and then Ryan got stuck in a pocket and there was no pace in the race either.

"So many things went wrong, and we were going to fly on the morning and two days before that all changed and we couldn't do that. Any one of those things could have been detrimental by themselves but they all landed on him on the one day."

O'Brien added: "He has always been special from day one, his movement and everything about him. Nothing has changed our minds about him."

On the remainder of his Derby team, O'Brien added: "San Antonio won at Dundalk and then went to Chester on soft ground. He has never run this far but is interesting as his dam Rain Goddess was second in the Irish Oaks and he is by Dubawi as well.

"Adelaide River is a straightforward horse. He ran at Chester but we don’t think he’s a soft-ground horse as he is a Galileo out of a War Front mare, which suggests he’s a better-ground horse. We think he will stay and we’d be happy to go forward and ride him handy."

Order out for more family fortune

Plenty of colts are said to be bred to win a Derby but the cliche especially rings true for Military Order.

He is by Frankel out of the Irish 1,000 Guineas second Anna Salai, as was Adayar who triumphed under William Buick in the Godolphin blue at Epsom two years ago.

Having a great pedigree does not guarantee being a great racehorse though, and the last time two brothers won was in the 19th century when Persimmon (1896) and Diamond Jubilee (1900) were successful.

However, Military Order has clearly inherited plenty of talent and comes into the race with a higher Racing Post Rating than Adayar, who was a 16-1 shot. He has looked an obvious candidate since winning Lingfield's Derby Trial last month.

Military Order (right): beat Waipiro at LingfieldCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

He kept on strongly on a speed-favouring all-weather track that would not have played to his strengths and Charlie Appleby, who trained Adayar and the 2018 winner Masar, is pleased with how things have gone before his bid to land a third success in five years.

"We've done nothing extra with him since his win at Lingfield and he's just been going through his usual routine," he said. "We've been pleased with his preparation.

"He's going into the race looking great. He looks as though he's more there physically and mentally than Adayar at this stage of his career, but regardless of that Adayar went and won a Derby and this lad has got to go and do it now."

Will Passenger be a great ride?

What happens when an owner who has never won the Derby teams up with a trainer who has landed it six times? The team behind Passenger has paid £85,000 to find out.

Sir Michael Stoute became the oldest trainer to collect this prize when Desert Crown triumphed 12 months ago, 41 years on from the first of his six victories with Shergar.

In contrast, the hugely successful bloodstock operation of the Niarchos family has never managed better than the second places achieved by Law Society and Main Sequence.

Law Society, the 1985 runner-up, had previously won a Chester Vase in which Stoute’s exciting Wood Ditton Stakes winner Miller’s Mate – already just about favourite for the Derby – suffered a career-ending injury.

Now 38 years on the trainer has made it to Epsom with another hugely promising Wood Ditton winner in Passenger, who carried the Niarchos colours to victory in the same race at Newmarket then finished a luckless third in the Dante Stakes at York.

He showed enough in that frustrating run on the Knavesmire, where he was blocked in during most of the penultimate furlong, to cause his owners to supplement him for this.

Passenger: supplemented for the Derby after a luckless run in the Dante StakesCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

The decision was left late and Stoute's assistant James Savage said: "When you run a trial so close to the Derby you have to make sure of the wellbeing of the horse before committing £85,000 to supplement them.

"He came out of the race in great shape and in the end it was a fairly easy decision. The Niarchos family are very sporting owners and they were keen to support Sir Michael's decision.

"Although it was disappointing to taste defeat in the Dante for a horse having only his second start, there were a lot of positives to take away and he probably learned a lot in that defeat."

'He's in great form and I knew he would improve a lot from two to three'

Dry eyes would be hard to find if Sprewell were to make Jessica Harrington the first female trainer to win the Derby.

The legendary 76-year-old trainer, who has already won the Cheltenham Gold Cup, Champion Hurdle and two Champion Chases, was diagnosed with breast cancer in October.

Her outlook remains positive, both for her health and the chances of Sprewell, who won the same Derby trial as Sinndar, Galileo and High Chaparral. The trio went on to win the Derby in consecutive years at the start of the century and Sprewell won it by further than any of those.

Harrington said: "He's in great form and I knew he would improve a lot from two to three. He was only a shell of a horse last year and we did well to get a run into him at all. He goes on soft but he's a low mover so he should be fine on the ground. His first run was around Gowran, so he's gone up and down hills and it didn't bother him. We're looking forward to it."

Read our Saturday previews:

12.50 Epsom: 'He looks the one to beat based on his best form' - confidence behind Godolphin runner in Diomed Stakes 

2.10 Epsom: 'We expect her to go well' - can Group 1 winner Prosperous Voyage find form in Princess Elizabeth? 

2.45 Epsom: 'He has a nice profile for the race' - key quotes and analysis for three-year-old sprint handicap 

3.20 Epsom: 'The track will really suit him' - analysis and key quotes for big-field Epsom Dash 

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