Having redeemed his reputation in no uncertain terms in the Derby at Epsom, City Of Troy jumps straight back into the world’s Top Ten on Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s exclusive Global Rankings.
On the same weekend that Hong Kong star Romantic Warrior solidified his world-leading status with victory in Japan’s Yasuda Kinen, City Of Troy produced a memorable performance to win the Betfred-sponsored Derby by an authoritative 2¾ lengths from Ambiente Friendly.
After plummeting down our rankings with his spectacular flop in the 2,000 Guineas, the son of Triple Crown winner Justify catapulted himself back up to #6 (from #133, +392pt), making him by some measure the world’s leading three-year-old.
Make no mistake: City Of Troy had serious questions to answer at Epsom. Settled towards the rear as his Aidan O’Brien-trained stablemates Euphoric and Los Angeles set a searching gallop, the Ballydoyle colt made an eyecatching move to hit the front between horses two furlongs out.
Dispelling any stamina doubts – and, moreover, suggestions he had not trained on – last year’s champion two-year-old comfortably held the runner-up, who had looked to be cantering a quarter-mile from home.
“It was hard to know what would happen today,” admitted jockey Ryan Moore (+30pt, #2 from #3 among jockeys). “But I was very sure we still had the best horse before the race,” he added.
“Newmarket … it didn’t happen. I can’t pretend that we knew it would happen, but we do know that he has a big engine, he showed himself to be a brilliant two-year-old. The Guineas – we got a few things wrong. But it’s great that he could come back today. He’s still a little bit immature, that’s the first time he’s run around a bend, hopefully there’s plenty more to work with.”
Although obvious short-term targets include both the Irish Derby and the Eclipse Stakes, the tantalising prospect of an outing on dirt at Saratoga in the Travers Stakes is still on the table. “There was a big plan drawn out for him,” said Aidan O’Brien (stays at #2, +41pt) after winning his tenth Derby.
“After the Guineas the decision was made to stick to the plan, and we would come here,” he went on. “The next plan made for him was we would go to Saratoga for a mile-and-a-quarter race, and the lads will talk about that and they’ll talk to Ryan and see what they want to do and then they’ll give us their thoughts and set out a plan for it, and we will go that way.
“The only thing I’m not sure about is Ryan said he was very green today and whether he will be able to run into a race like that straight away I’m not sure.
“We knew that the Guineas went totally wrong,” O’Brien added. “I made mistakes training him and that’s the bottom line. We discussed it before, there were stones that I didn’t look under that I should have. He was too fresh, he was unprepared, he blew up in the stalls when he went in, that’s just the reality of it.”
Asked by ITV Racing if City Of Troy is the best Derby winner he has had, O’Brien replied: “I would say no doubt, because he has the cruise, he has the balance, and he quickens and he stays. I don’t think there is any doubt about that. Listen, he is just an incredible horse.”
City Of Troy’s sire Justify, who stands at Coolmore’s US branch Ashford, continues his climb on our overall sires’ list, where he is now at #15 (from #21, +36pt).
O’Brien made a bold claim, saying: “The great stallion we had was Galileo. Justifys are Galileos with more class, which is a very hard thing to say, but we see it every day. The stride, the minds, the movement of them, they are quicker than Galileos, which makes them unbelievably exciting for us.”
Also returning to form at Epsom was City Of Troy’s O’Brien-trained stable companion Luxembourg (#21 from #96, +195pt), aboard whom Moore dictated the pace with a masterclass ride to win the G1 Coronation Cup on Friday’s card. Now five, Luxembourg has achieved the notable feat of winning G1 races in four successive seasons.
Epsom’s third G1, the Betfred Oaks, went the way of emphatic three-length winner Ezeliya (#79 from #628, +337pt). The Aga Khan’s daughter of Dubawi was a first British Classic success for jockey Chris Hayes – and a second Oaks win for pioneering international trainer Dermot Weld, 43 years after the first with Blue Wind in 1981 under Lester Piggott.
Romantic Warrior confirms #1 status
Renowned globetrotter Romantic Warrior confirmed his status as world #1 on our rankings with another international success as he overcame a strong home team to land the G1 Yasuda Kinen over a mile in Tokyo on Sunday [June 2].
Partnered by world #1 jockey James McDonald, Romantic Warrior (stays at #1, +64pt) secured his fifth successive G1 victory in the ¥388m ($2.75m/£1.96m) contest, in which he finished strongly to hold Namur (#20 from #40, +58pt) by a half-length.
The six-year-old, who will not race again this season, is the third Hong Kong-trained winner of the Yasuda Kinen after Fairy King Prawn (2000) and Bullish Luck (2006).
“He’s a champion racehorse,” said McDonald, “and it’s a very proud day for all of us – the whole team – because to showcase him to Japan was something very, very special in such a prestigious race.
“I’m almost lost for words when I ride this horse because he’s got a big heart and he tries his best all the time. It’s such a hard jurisdiction to race in. There’s such good horses and great jockeys so it’s an absolute privilege to be here and to be winning such a prestigious race is very, very special.”
Representing trainer Danny Shum (#21 from #24, +46pt), Romantic Warrior has now won 15 of his 20 career starts. Eight of his victories have come at G1 level – including the last three editions of the QEII Cup, back-to-back Hong Kong Cups and the most recent running of the Cox Plate in Australia.
For good measure, he won two legs of the HK Classic series for four-year-olds in 2021, including the HK Derby, which we treat as a G1 for rankings purposes (though it is denied such official recognition as a restricted race).
Romantic Warrior became the second HK horse to lead TRC rankings when he supplanted compatriot Golden Sixty at the end of April. The 24th individual horse overall to top the charts since we started compiling racehorse rankings in 2014, he has now spent six weeks at the summit.
• Unlike traditional methods of racehorse rankings, TRC Global Rankings are a measure of an individual’s level of achievement over a rolling three-year period, providing a principled hierarchy of the leading horses, jockeys, trainers, owners and sires using statistical learning techniques. Racehorse rankings can be compared to similar exercises in other sports, like the golf’s world rankings or the ATP rankings in tennis.
They are formulated from the last three years of races we consider Group or Graded class all over the world and update automatically each week according to the quality of a horse’s performances and their recency, taking into account how races work out.
• View the latest TRC Global Rankings for horses / jockeys / trainers / sires
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