A CONTENDER for the best bred two-year-old winner of 2022 must surely be Auguste Rodin.

Named in honour of François Auguste René Rodin who was a French sculptor, and generally considered the founder of modern sculpture, the colt has much to live up to, and he has made a most promising start to his racing career. Runner-up to Crypto Force (sold last month for £900,000) on his Curragh debut, he made no mistake second time out at Naas, and he is already being quoted for next year’s Derby.

Auguste Rodin is a son of Deep Impact (Sunday Silence), the dual Japanese champion whose tally of Group 1 winners now stands at 56, and some of those who are very familiar in this part of the world are Saxon Warrior, Study Of Man, Snowfall and Fancy Blue. On the dam side, the Ballydoyle juvenile is the first foal of Rhododendron, a daughter of Galileo (Sadler’s Wells).

Rhododendron won a Group 1 race in all three seasons she raced, the Fillies’ Mile at two, the Prix de l’Opera at three and the Lockinge Stakes in her final season. As admirable as her achievements were, she was eclipsed by her year-younger full-sister Magical (Galileo), whose tally of seven Group 1 wins puts her among an elite group trained by Ballydoyle. The maestro Aidan O’Brien has saddled Highland Reel, Magical, Minding, Rock Of Gibraltar and Yeats to all win seven times at the highest level on the flat.

Rhododendron and Magical are the best of the winners from Halfway To Heaven (Pivotal), a three-time Group 1 winner following victories in the Irish 1000 Guineas, Nassau Stakes and Sun Chariot Stakes.

She, in turn, is the best of 10 winners produced by Group 2 (now Group 1) winner Cassandra Go (Indian Ridge).