City Of Troy was the last horse to be saddled up for the Juddmonte International Stakes, the final runner to enter the parade ring of the 13-horse field.
He was first out of the gates though and by the end of the race, after a stunning all-the-way effort, no horse had ever run York’s one mile, two-furlong and 56-yard course faster. The brilliant colt had just taken another stride towards joining the all-time greats and put the racing world on notice.
Before entering the parade ring trainer Aidan O’Brien had saddled the calm three-year-old himself, carefully tidying his horse’s mane like a father sending a son off to school. Soon enough it was City Of Troy teaching his rivals a lesson as jockey Ryan Moore allowed the son of Justify to bound to the front from the start, something he had not done since his win in the G1 Dewhurst Stakes last October.
“He got away well and I didn’t want to take him back,” Moore said. “He travelled beautifully the whole way and I only really let his head go at the two (last 400 metres) and he was a bit idle, but he was finding all the way to the line – he just kept digging. He’s a very talented racehorse, super talented. He’s got a very big engine.”
Runner-up Calandagan had played-up pre-race, refusing to load initially, but there can be no excuses for him: he had his chance to test the leader, but City Of Troy’s blistering final two furlongs fended off that challenge. Fellow three-year-old Ghostwriter finished third ahead of a field that was spaced by the impressive winner’s sustained speed.
Japanese raider Durezza, on his first trip abroad, wasn’t able to cope with City Of Troy’s superiority, nor with Moore’s unexpected move to make the running. After breaking too slowly to get to the lead, Tomohito Ozeki’s colt was wide on the turn and then found little when the pace increased in the home straight. Perhaps easier options like Sha Tin in December – where Ozeki succeeded with Glory Vase previously – will be more suitable.
“He did not jump well but moved to the front position steadily,” jockey Christophe Lemaire said. “He accelerated well at the beginning of the home straight but slowed down in the last 300 meters. He cannot accelerate well in the whole home straight. He was in a good condition but we need 120 per cent for this race.”
O’Brien had poured rare praise on City Of Troy before his G1 2,000 Guineas flop in May, saying he had “never seen anything like” the colt. There was a strong sense of relief after he famously bounced back in the Epsom Derby, then vindication after the Eclipse Stakes, albeit that plenty of observers knocked the latter win.
This time, as City Of Troy returned to warm applause from a knowledgeable Yorkshire crowd, O’Brien basked in the afterglow of his new champion’s achievement and that of his team.
“We always said he was so special … that he was like something we had never seen before,” he said. “We went completely off the road in the Guineas and down into the swamp. So we had to stop, start and re-jig. Everything had to be re-jigged.”
Of Moore’s tactics O’Brien said, “It’s a natural thing for him to go forward, hard and fast.”
City Of Troy is the first horse since Sea The Stars in 2009 to win the Derby, Eclipse Stakes and International Stakes, and the winning time of 2m 04.32s took nearly a second from Sea The Stars’ track record set that year.
Granted, the time was achieved on a firmer-than-usual track ran fast, but there can be no arguing the authoritative nature of the win.
O’Brien has previously said he hopes his horse can be a dual-surface star. The G1 Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar could well be next, and the style of this win would not have discouraged the master trainer on that score. The world awaits.
