Aidan O’Brien and Coolmore’s golden colt City Of Troy is now being aimed at York’s Ebor Festival next month.
Other targets had been mentioned, but it now seems clear that the Ballydoyle team will continue the son of Justify’s career in the mile-and-a-quarter Juddmonte International Stakes on Wednesday, August 21.
Does British racing really need and want a superstar performance from him though?
USA Had Been Under Consideration
City Of Troy was a brilliant Superlative Stakes and Dewhurst winner to become champion juvenile in 2023.
After failing in the 2000 Guineas, he was back to his best when landing the Derby ahead of Ambiente Friendly. Last time out, he took on soft ground and a much-depleted field to win the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown, though not in flashy fashion.
Coolmore representatives and Aidan O’Brien had mentioned that the Travers Stakes could be on the agenda. That race, run at Saratoga in New York over ten furlongs, takes place on the dirt on August 24 and is worth $1.25m (£960k).
The Travers was considered as the team wishes to end City Of Troy’s year in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in similar conditions at Del Mar in California on November 2.
As a son of US Triple Crown winner Justify, the dirt should suit but that really isn’t the reason Coolmore want to win on that surface. It is all down to making City Of Troy the most expensive stallion in the world.
Skipping out on New York in favour of old York appears to be a concentrated move. If he loses at Saratoga, the Classic dream could be over. If he goes to the Classic first time on dirt and doesn’t win, his reputation probably doesn’t suffer too much. Win it, and his value only increases.
Is Winning or Breeding the True Priority?
We breed horses to create other horses. People buy those horses to try and win races. It really is that simple at its core, this sport.
Breeding and its attached values though have become a thing of obsession, especially at Coolmore.
People buying horses at the sales cannot, simply cannot, fail to know the truth about all top-level horses who’ve won races in public on the track. They’ve seen it. All of this “looking good on the page” is almost to patronise those opening their chequebooks.
City Of Troy is a Derby winner, nobody can take that away, but he isn’t a brilliant one. Nobody turned up to challenge him in the Eclipse and he only just got the job done.
This horse is a proper Group 1 winner, but he’s not Pegasus. Winning or losing on the dirt won’t change City Of Troy’s future stud price nearly as much as people think.
Does Racing Need City Of Troy to Win the Juddmonte or Not?
We know what Coolmore wants and needs. We know what Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore want as well. Many punters will also be on their side on the Knavesmire and who can blame them?
What does British racing truly need?
It’s hard to say racing needs or even wants City Of Troy to be beaten. That’s way too harsh and racing needs champions. But there should be no more running away tolerated by those in opposition.
The Coolmore team are going to York for three main reasons; they don’t want to be beaten on dirt (yet), the Juddmonte is actually worth about £300,000 more than the Travers and, after the Derby and the Eclipse, they feel nobody in Britain can beat him over middle distances.
The trainers, fitness allowing, of Economics, Ambiente Friendly, Calandagan, Passenger, White Birch and Israr should absolutely be peaking their horses for a crack at arguably Britain’s best race and get the favourite beaten.
City Of Troy was rated 125 after the Dewhurst but was not raised from his new 124 mark after the Derby. In truth, he ran to a level of around 122. He most definitely ran below even that in the Eclipse.
He is good. He is a Group 1 performer, but those numbers do not put him in the same category as many a Derby or Juddmonte winner of the past and the last thing this sport needs is for his competition to be shying away.