Much-vaunted Epsom Derby winner scored a workmanlike success in G1 Coral-Eclipse Stakes at Sandown – while dirt marathon star Next sparkles at the ‘Big A’
There are more questions than answers. That is the only conclusion to be drawn after Epsom Derby winner City Of Troy followed up in workmanlike fashion in a moderate-looking renewal of the Coral-Eclipse Stakes at Sandown Park on Saturday [July 6].
Having done much to redeem his tarnished reputation in Britain’s premier Classic, City Of Troy was sent off a 1-4 favourite against a field of only five seemingly overmatched rivals.
However, soft ground at Sandown prompted the late scratching of two intended runners – and it almost undid the favourite as well, as City Of Troy produced a laboured performance to beat Al Riffa – currently rated outside our top 500 – by only a length.
It could easily have been worse, as the runner-up arrived on the scene with what looked like a winning challenge from the rear until Ryan Moore galvanised City Of Troy to hold him off for a hard-fought victory.
To his credit, City Of Troy did manage to win, thereby adding another G1 to his CV, which explains why he has moved into the Top 5 on Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s Global Rankings.
Yet while he is now #5 (from #12, +62pt), it would be hard to enthuse – though to be fair, these were not the conditions for flashes of brilliance.
Not for the first time, his connections were blaming themselves, with Ryan Moore leading the explanations. “I got it wrong by taking him up the middle and he wanted to go back to the fence,” said the world #2 rider, speaking on ITV Racing.
“The ground was wrong for him but he still got the job done,” Moore added. “I never really got it out of him until I really had to and I think there was a lot more in there. Coming back now, it doesn’t feel like he has had a race. He wants nicer ground but the trip I wouldn’t be too worried about – 10 or 12 furlongs is fine.”
World-leading trainer Aidan O’Brien gave the impression of a relieved man during the inevitable postmortem. "We walked the course beforehand and it was soft, tough, deep ground,” he explained.
“All fairness to the lads – 15 years ago they’d have taken the horse out but they enjoy their racing so much now and wanted to run him. It would have been easy to take him out and it was a long discussion before we ran.
“He is a beautiful, good ground horse and a real fast-ground mover so he has won today despite the ground. It was proper soft ground today, softer than when he won the Dewhurst last season. It was tough today and it was specialist ground. It didn’t really go according to plan but in the end I think he won pretty easily.”
With the Coolmore ‘lads’ keen to showcase Justify’s progeny on dirt, the Breeders’ Cup Classic remains in the mix for City Of Troy – the Irish behemoth has spent decades trying to work that particular oracle.
On the other hand, all thoughts of the Travers Stakes are firmly off the table – they have US-trained Sierra Leone for that – with more conventional targets such as the Juddmonte International and Irish Champion Stakes mentioned in dispatches.
Belmont at the Big A: Next routs rivals
More startling in rankings terms is the re-entry of Next at #12 after a 9¼-length romp in the G2 Brooklyn Stakes at Aqueduct on the closing weekend of the ‘Belmont at the Big A’ meet.
The six-year-old reigns supreme in the US dirt marathon division and has now won seven of his last eight starts, including the last five – all of them in stakes company.
Trained by William ‘Doug’ Cowans, Next is making a habit of wide-margin victories. He won the Birdstone (Listed) by 11¾ lengths last July at Saratoga, the G3 Greenwood Cup by a widening 25 lengths in September at Parx Racing, and the Isaac Murphy Marathon by 11¼ lengths on his seasonal debut on May 1 at Churchill Downs.
In defending his title in the Brooklyn, the gelded son of Not This Time (#8 from #11, +154pt among dirt sires) produced a career-best Beyer speed figure of 109. “That is a big number,” said Cowans. “You think the horse can’t get any better and he just keeps on improving, showing up and getting bigger numbers every time.”
It appears that nothing can touch Next on dirt in what US racing refers to as ‘marathon’ distances – anything beyond the US classic distance of a mile and a quarter. Which makes the beginnings of his career appear more than a little ironic, as he started out with Wesley Ward – seldom renowned for his stayers – in a 4½ furlong maiden on the all-weather at Woodbine in June 2020, a season in which he was last of 14 in the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile.
The problem for the latterday version of Next, of course, is that such is the emphasis on speed that there is not a single G1 event carded at such extended distances on the main track in the entire North American programme, which means the G2 Brooklyn at 11 furlongs as the most prestigious in an uncompetitive division.
As such, it must be wondered whether connections will now be persuaded to try Next over shorter in a race like the Jockey Club Gold Cup against top-grade rivals.
“It is hard for me to take him away from something that he really likes to do,” explained Cowans, speaking to the NYRA media team. “Maybe somewhere along the line I will be forced to.”
Unheralded winners across the globe
Elsewhere last weekend was marked by an eclectic mix of G1 action across the globe and an array of largely unheralded winners.
The Belmont Derby and Oaks Invitationals for three-year-olds went to Trikari (#128 from #263, +134pt) and Cinderella’s Dream (re-enters at #167) respectively,
Deutsches Derby winner Palladium enters the charts at #198 after a neck victory over a big field in Germany’s premier Classic at longshot 23-1 odds, while the Durban July, South Africa’s premier race at Greyville, went to 10-1 chance Oriental Charm (#455).
The G1 Prix Jean Prat at Deauville on Sunday produced a shock 35-1 winner in the shape of Puchkine (#179). Despite his starting price, he won with something to spare after being supplemented to the race.
• 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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