Japan’s love of Deep Impact is generational.
The connections of Auguste Rodin , a 4-year-old son of Deep Impact, have witnessed this love first-hand in the days and weeks since announcing plans to point the 2023 Epsom Derby (G1)/Irish Derby (G1) winner to the Nov. 24 Japan Cup (G1) for his final career start.
Honored that the Coolmore-affiliated owners Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith, Susan Magnier, and Westerberg will start the six-time grade 1/group 1 winner in the Japan Cup, the Japan Racing Association has planned a celebration of Auguste Rodin—win or lose—during Sunday’s card at Tokyo Racecourse.
“I think it’s very special,” said trainer Aidan O’Brien. “Obviously we wouldn’t have expected it, but we really appreciate it.
“We are really amazed how respectful the Japanese public are of Auguste Rodin, and obviously he’s by Deep Impact, which makes him very special. So we really appreciate it and we feel very privileged and grateful to everybody for doing this and putting it on. Everyone’s been so appreciative of him coming down and competing.”
Aidan O’Brien at the Japan Cup Pre-race Press Conference
During his racing career, Deep Impact earned Japan’s Horse of the Year honor in 2005 and 2006 as he swept the country’s Triple Crown at 3 and won the Japan Cup at 4. The son of dual classic winner Sunday Silence went on to finish as Japan’s leading sire seven times before his death in 2019. Now his son Auguste Rodin, winner of the 2023 Breeders’ Cup Turf (G1T), will try for a grade 1/group 1 victory on a third continent in a race won by his sire.
Coolmore enjoyed some success sending its mares, specifically daughters of Galileo, to Deep Impact in Japan. Included in that specific group are Auguste Rodin, out of Rhododendron, as well as Snowfall , out of Best In The World, and Saxon Warrior , out of Maybe. Auguste Rodin would be foaled in Ireland, Snowfall and Saxon Warrior were foaled in Japan. All three would earn classic success as Snowfall swept the 2021 English Oaks (G1) and Irish Oaks (G1) while Saxon Warrior captured the 2018 Two Thousand Guineas (G1).
“Obviously, Deep Impact was an incredible horse. I don’t have to tell everybody about him,” O’Brien said. “We never really got Deep Impacts until his last three or four years at stud. We wish we had maybe gotten there before then.”
O’Brien noted that when John and Susan Magnier and other Coolmore-affiliated owners decided to send Galileo mares to Japan, it raised some eyebrows.
“We thought it was a little bit strange at the time, but obviously we know why now,” O’Brien said. “Deep Impact was one of the best stallions in the world ever. Obviously as his career went on at stud, we knew that he was very special. We didn’t fully realize it until we got some Deep Impacts to train. We only got a very small number of them, but they were classic winner after classic winner. We knew that they were very different. They had great cruise—a great ability to travel through a race—and really could quicken and had loads of personalities as well. So we knew after having the first few that he was very special.”
