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° Сity Of Troy has a binary line of 111-01 after his smooth and comprehensive good luck in the derby at Epsom on Saturday and when his racing career ends – hopefully in November 2025, but perhaps more likely in five months’ time – last month’s zero in the 2000 Guineas could prove as significant as any of these .
There is an alternate reality in which City Of Troy is unbeaten in the pre-Guineas stalls and remains unbeaten, and in which this column discusses the pros and cons of sending him to the St Leger at Doncaster in September, the final leg of the Triple Crown.
But he did and he hasn’t, and as much as many of us would love to see another attempt at the Triple Crown – the atmosphere of Town Moor when Camelot launched in 2012, it was extraordinary – the possibilities for City Of Troy here and now are equally compelling.
Saturday’s success – and the subsequent anointing of Aidan O’Brien’s City Of Troy as the best of his 10 Derby winners – was a double win for the Coolmore Stud syndicate that owns him. They have another outstanding stallion prospect when the time comes, who will win far more than Saturday’s £800,000 first prize to cover fees before any of his foals even see a track. Meanwhile, the effect on his sire Justify’s fee could be just as dramatic.
The path the syndicate “boys” are laying out for the Derby winner now will be for both Justify and City Of Troy. The newest star of Coolmore’s list has produced Grade One and Group One winners on dirt and turf in his first two crops and now has a winner in the most prestigious European Classic.
Justify is now well on his way to being the first dual-purpose stallion in the global era of Flat racing, capable of producing high-class middle-distance winners regardless of surface and conditions. The rest of City Of Troy’s career could complete the process.
A quick guide Greg Wood’s Monday Tips
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Er 2.15 Haazeez 2.45 Desert Quest 3.15 Little Empire 3.45 Boy Douglas 4.15 Ayr Poet 4.45 Monhammer
Brighton 2.30 Voltaic 3.00 Mutamanni 3.30 Blenheim Star 4.00 On The Cards 4.30 Oh So Audacious 5.00 Bluebells Boy
Windsor 5.10 Loud Music 5.45 Cayman Tai 6.15 Gutsy Girl 6.45 Jimmy Speaking (nb) 7.15 Silver Gunn 7.45 Angel On High 8.15 Miss Harmony 8.45 My Ambition
Weatherby 6.30 Unspoken Love 7.00 Night Of Desire 7.30 Glistening Nights 8.00 Yazaman (Nap) 8.30 Wintercrack 9.00 Smooth Silesie
There was talk of a 10-furlong Travers Stakes race at Saratoga in late August before City Of Troy’s flop in the Guineas and the potential payoff of a Midsummer Derby win in America against a field that could include Kentucky Derby winner Mystik Dan will be huge.
It would be a gamble, of course. There are more traditional targets for a Derby winner, including the Irish Derby, the Eclipse in July, the International Stakes at York in August and the Irish Champion Stakes in early September.
The Travers, however, is also a natural springboard to the Breeders’ Cup Classic, a race that has been unfinished business for Ballydoyle and Coolmore since the narrow defeat on the Giant’s Causeway behind Tiznow in a race for the ages nearly a quarter of a century ago.
City Of Troy was quoted at around 8-1 for the Triple Crown before his failure in the Guineas. He is now priced at the same price to become the first horse to win the Derby and the Breeders’ Cup Classic, and with all due respect to the Doncaster and the St Leger, that would be an achievement to surpass even the Triple Crown.
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