Search For A Song retired after honourable second to Iresine in French St Leger

Dermot Weld called time on the career of his dual-Irish St Leger winner Search For A Song following her gallant runner-up effort in Sunday’s Prix Royal Oak at Longchamp.

The six-year-old mare, a sister to Europe’s top-stayer Kyprios, looked briefly like going out in a blaze of glory when taking the lead before the straight in France’s version of the St Leger.

However, she was ultimately powerless to resist the late challenge of the local 7-4 favourite Iresine who gave rider Marie Velon a first Group One victory.

Search For A Song improved on her fourth in last year’s Royal Oak and the mare who landed back-to-back Irish Legers in 2019 and 2020 finished her racing career with another honourable top-flight effort.

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“I’m delighted, and I’ve been honoured to train her. She’s been a wonderful mare to train and she’s done us proud. She’s won two classics, a couple of Group Ones, multiple Group One-placed and she was champion staying filly in Europe two years running,” Weld said.

“For a six-year-old I’m so proud of her to come back and run a cracking race — full marks to the winner, he must be a very good horse.

“She’s been a very genuine, tough-staying mare. The winner is rated 118 and she’s put up a wonderful performance as she always does,” he added.

Princess Zoe, the other Irish hope in the race, stayed on from the rear of the field to take fourth in the closing stages.

Coolmore success

In other news, Aidan O’Brien goes into winter quarters with a renewed grip at the top of the betting for next year’s classics.

Auguste Rodin gave O’Brien a record 11th success in Saturday’s Vertem Futurity at Doncaster, in the process catapulting himself to the top of markets for both the 2,000 Guineas and the Derby in 2023.

The son of Deep Impact is a 5-1 co-favourite with another Ballydoyle star, Little Big Bear, in many antepost Guineas lists and is a clear 3-1 favourite for Derby glory at Epsom.

It marks a return to familiar dominance of the juvenile rankings for O’Brien.

Pinatubo in 2019 and Native Trail last season were clear two-year-old champions in Europe for Coolmore Stud’s great rivals, Godolphin.

If last year’s demise of Coolmore’s prepotent stallion Galileo was a blow, the emergence of top talents such as Little Big Bear, by No Nay Never, and Auguste Rodin is timely for the Irish operation.

The 2022 crop of three-year-olds at Ballydoyle have proved largely disappointing with only Tuesday scoring a classic success in the Oaks in June.

Luxembourg’s classic campaign was interrupted by injury although he returned to Group One glory with a hugely important success in last month’s Irish Champion Stakes.

It has been Kyprios who has proved the principal Group One star for O’Brien this season with four top-flight successes including the Prix Du Cadran earlier this month.

It was touch and go whether Auguste Rodin got the green light to run in the Futurity due to testing ground conditions. But O’Brien opted to go ahead and Ryan Moore steered a deliberate path up the stands side on ground that was relatively unpoached.

“He’s a very smart horse but we were worried about the ground,” O’Brien admitted. “He’s got a lovely attitude, he’s a fine big horse and a lovely mover so he has everything you’d look for in a good horse.”

Next year’s classics may mean Ballydoyle’s biggest threats come from close to home.

Donnacha O’Brien saddled Proud And Regal to land Group One glory in Saturday’s Criterium International at Saint-Cloud, edging out his father’s Espionage in a very close finish.

“He’s by Galileo and they improve at three. He stays well and I think he’ll even get a mile-and-a-half next year,” said O’Brien.

Proud And Regal, who is as low as 16-1 for the Derby, was a first Group One success for former champion apprentice Gavin Ryan and O’Brien added: “Gavin is a huge part of our team and it’s great for him to get his Group One.”

Also 16-1 for next year’s Derby is the National Stakes winner Al Riffa from Joseph O’Brien’s team.