Epsom Derby winner City Of Troy came through his crucial racecourse workout at in flying colours on Friday afternoon at Southwell [Sept 20], satisfying his Coolmore connections ahead of his ambitious tilt at the Breeders’ Cup Classic.
After finishing strongly through the line to power ten lengths clear of his work companions over a mile, the son of Triple Crown winner Justify is 5-2 favourite for America’s richest race on November 2 with British bookmakers Coral.
The Southwell gallop was designed as a full-scale dress rehearsal for Del Mar, where City Of Troy will be running on dirt for the first time. With four Aidan O’Brien-trained stable companions also taking part, they broke from a US-style starting gate (with a bell) on the Midlands venue’s Tapeta all-weather surface – not the same as dirt, but closer than the turf he is used to.
World #1 according to Thoroughbred Racing Commentary’s Global Rankings since his impressive victory in the Juddmonte International, City Of Troy was partnered by Ryan Moore, who settled him last of five behind a team of vastly inferior stablemates Congo River (Brett Doyle), Democracy (Wayne Lordan), Master Of The Hunt (Rachel Richardson) and Edwardian (Dean Gallagher).
Given time to sort himself out behind a strong tempo, the three-year-old cantered up between horses, making the his way to the front in effortless fashion before striding clear, drawing ten lengths clear and finishing strongly through the line.
With more than 1,000 people in attendance for a highly anticipated public workout for which racecards with colours were published, City Of Troy was cheered back into the winner’s enclosure after a faultless effort.
O’Brien seemed pleased with what he saw. “There was an even pace and he stretched out well, so hopefully he’ll come out of it and we’ll look forward to the Breeders’ Cup with him now,” he said.
“He’s a unique horse, we always thought he was, and we’ve tried to do our best for him to show that he’s something different,” added the trainer, speaking to Attheraces.com in an interview with Sky Sports Racing’s Jason Weaver.
“We’ve tried to prepare him for a Classic – we’ve never won it and know how tough it is. When he came along we felt that he was the horse that could make it happen. There’s never any guarantee with anything, but we felt if we looked under every stone that he’d have a good chance.”
O’Brien expressed his gratitude to Southwell for the experience. “It’s a pleasure and privilege for us to come,” he said.“We’re so grateful to everybody for making this day happen and making it such a success.
“We’re so grateful to everyone for providing an atmosphere, the track was beautiful and all the facilities, so we feel very privileged.
“The lads slowed up the surface today, which was brilliant, and made it a bit closer to dirt. It was tough and was never going to be over impressive to look at I suppose, but we were very happy and Ryan was very happy.”
World #1 trainer O’Brien explained that employed an American-style gate in a bid to eradicate problems with slow starts that have sometimes bedevilled Ballydoyle’s Breeders’ Cup contenders in the past.
“The lads loaded them up perfect and City Of Troy jumped on the bell and was very quick,” he added. “We knew the other four were going to be forced a bit stronger early because we didn’t want him to be in front, but at the same time Ryan said he was going to go forward because when he goes to America he’ll go forward.
“It all worked out perfect, we think. The trip, the day away, but I think the big thing was the track and the surface – it’s fast and left-handed and flat and the surface was more demanding than anything we could get other than grass.
“We’ve ticked all the boxes we think we should have ticked, that doesn’t mean you’ll get success, but at least if you fail that way you’ve failed doing your best, so we’ll try.”
For his part, Moore is also looking forward to the Del Mar assignment. “He achieved what the objective was, and it’s about six weeks now,” he said.
“I’ve never won it [Breeders’ Cup Classic], but he’s an unusual horse and he showed how good he is at York. If he can transfer that level of ability to the dirt, then you’d like to think he’d be in the mix.”
O’Brien has used Southwell (when the surface was Fibresand) before for high-profile Classic contenders such as Giant’s Causeway – who was agonisingly beaten by Tiznow in the 2000 Classic) – and Galileo.
“We think he’s like Giant’s Causeway, but he’s quicker,” commented O’Brien. “This horse has a little more zest than Giant’s Causeway and has a long stride.
“He’s dour like him and his stride doesn’t shorten it lengthens, he’s tactically fairly quick, so he has a lot of those similarities, but we think he has a little bit more class.
“Justify is an incredible horse, like something we’ve never seen. He’s made like a big quarter horse and was still able to get a mile and a half, so that’s very rare.
“He’s a Triple Crown winner and we thought we’d never be lucky enough to get our hands on a stallion like that again. It’s so exciting for us, as horses that he sires will be able to run on the dirt and the grass and City Of Troy should improve on dirt, so it will be very exciting.”
City Of Troy is now generally available at between 5-2 and 3-1 market leader with UK betting firms. "Connections seemed happy with City Of Troy's Southwell experience, and although the Classic itself will be an entirely new test for the Derby winner, he will head to Del Mar as big race favourite, certainly on this side of the Atlantic," said Coral's David Stevens.
Breeders’ Cup Classic betting (Coral): 5-2 City Of Troy, 4 Fierceness, 8 Forever Young, 10 Highland Falls, Muth, 12 Sierra Leone, Thorpedo Anna, 14 Dornoch, 16 Dragoon Guard, National Treasure, Nysos.
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