3 minute read

There are three of them coming from stables in Ireland, France and Germany.

But that is only part of the story.  We will start with Auguste Rodin who is trained by Aidan O'Brien in Ireland but he is by Deep Impact and the lovely mare Rhododendrum.  His career has been brilliant although not without some inexplicable black spots.  His most illustrious record is that of being a double Derby winner as he got both the Epsom and Irish Derbys on his CV in 2023.  Altogether he's had eight wins and three seconds in his 15 starts.  If he's on song he's unbeatable but there is that "if" factor.  Hopefully being in the homeland of his sire may give him the right vibes.  He'll be going back to Ireland after this for his next career and will be given a "Farewell Ceremony" at the end of racing on Japan Cup Day.  His trainer Aidan O'Brien is actually in Japan which shows how seriously Coolmore are taking this race.

Goliath is trained in France by Francis Graffard although his sire Adlerflug is German  he's now 75% owned by an American, John Stewart, whose racing business is under the name of Resolute Racing.  Stewart is all for international racing and intends to travel his horses to all the major meetings.  Provided Goliath comes out of the Cup OK he will then go on to Hong Kong.  Goliath has won six and run second twice in his 1- starts, with his best win to date being in the King George and Queen Elizabeth at Ascot.  He's a very big boy so you won't miss him in the run.

Fantastic Moon is trained in Germany by Sarah Steinberg, who has been riding him at track work earlier in the week.  This year he again won the Grosser Preis von Baden and then he went to the Arc but the track was very soft and connections wanted to scratch him. That would have entailed a huge fine so he ran and finished 9th as he does not like wet tracks.  He was Germany's Horse of the Year in 2023 and is known for his tenacious finishes,  He will be going to stud in Germany in 2025 and already has a lot of nice mares lining up to meet him.  While he is considered the lesser of the three contenders his A Game should be produce it could earn him some more prize money.

All three raiders are eligible for a considerable bonus should they finish in the first five as they have all won races that make them eligible for this.  Bonus for first is US$ 3 million, second $1.2milllion, third $750,000, fourth $200,000 and fifth $100,000.