For a man who had been so generous with his words, on this occasion there was no need to say anything. All Aidan O’Brien had to do was look at a picture.
It was evident as soon as the gates sprung open that City Of Troy was fighting a losing battle, the split-second of hesitation enabling his rivals in the Breeders Cup Classic to start galloping away and – most damagingly – to kick dirt in his face.
City Of Troy had given the impression, as he moved serenely around the course last week, that this alien terrain would hold no terrors for him. How tantalising it was, the prospect of him transferring his wonderful turf performances to the historic racetrack by the surf.
O’Brien’s planning to break new ground had been meticulous and had included a day trip in September to Southwell, that provincial all-weather track in England, to give him a taste of what might be come to pass when those bruising American runners were lying in wait.
Nothing in sport, however, can fully prepare you for when battle begins for real. City Of Troy had more natural talent than any of the 13 runners in The Classic but how he hated being subjected to the kickback, clumps of dirt flying up and making him wince. His fate was sealed within a furlong.
City of Troy faltered as soon as the gates sprang open as he sought to claim the Breeders’ Cup Classic on his final run
Trainer Aidan O’Brien will have known from the moment he saw the pictures that his race was already run
‘We’re learning all the time and, in my opinion, I should have had him coming out quicker and travelling quicker,’ said O’Brien, doing what he always does in these situations and shouldering the blame. ‘When you get back that far on a dirt surface, you can’t do anything about it.
‘Hopefully we’ll try harder next year. I think you have to have them prepared properly. He broke quickly but didn’t get into top gear quickly enough. When we took him to Southwell, we got the other horses to lead him, but maybe we should have kicked him out and let him lead.’
Quite how he could have led, though, is impossible to imagine. The first four furlongs, covered in 44 seconds, were the fastest ever recorded in 40 Breeders Cup Classics. Some sprinters can’t go that lung-busting pace, never mind a horse who has been conditioned to excel in middle-distances.
‘They went very, very fast,’ said jockey Ryan Moore, whose afternoon started with him getting a bang in the stalls that required medical attention and ended with his navy blue silks covered in dust. ‘He got a lot of kickback, which he hadn’t experienced before. He was very brave to keep going.’
Inevitably, the debate began to roar about his place in the pantheon as soon as City Of Troy wearily crossed the line in eighth place, 13 lengths behind the eventual winner Sierra Leone, who was ridden by Flavien Prat and trained by Chad Brown. He was an outstanding second string for owners Coolmore.
The horse was taken to Southwell in September to get a taste of the turf but nothing prepared him for Saturday
The three-year-old last claimed the Juddmonte International Stakes at York in August
Plenty will nail their colours to the mast and say he was nothing more than a good horse, one who was the subject of master marketing by O’Brien. Racing is a game of opinions but to hold that view is incredibly sad and, undoubtedly, misguided.
Since City Of Troy made his debut on July 1 2023, running so powerfully that he threatened to career through the fence at the top of the Curragh and bound all the way down the R413 to Kilcullen, he has done more to raise racing’s profile than any other horse.
Every outing has generated great debate, every bulletin from O’Brien about him was dissected. To comeback from a calamity in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket to land the Derby, Coral Eclipse and Juddmonte International – a treble only completed previously by Sea The Stars – was extraordinary.
Did City Of Troy, who now retires to Coolmore’s Tipperary base, ever deliver the performance to blow the roof like Frankel did when he won the 2000 Guineas and Juddmonte International? No. But that doesn’t mean he wasn’t exceptional and you’ll never get joy in sport if you constantly compare.
There are enough people around City Of Troy who don’t seek headlines who will tell you in private the lithe son of Justify, with his bay coat and his flaxen tail, was something out of the ordinary and their words must be trusted. Put it another way: things won’t be the same without him next year.
Despite his disappointing final showing he remains a one-of-kind horse who will be much missed next year
‘An incredible horse,’ said O’Brien. ‘It was so sporting of the lads (Coolmore) to let us run him in this race and what can I say? For us he’s been the most incredible horse. It was a privilege and a pleasure to have him.’
Michael Tabor, one of his co-owners, had told Mail Sport last week that it would have been ‘utopia’ if City Of Troy had been able to deliver the dream. It is no stain on his record that he failed to deliver. The biggest failure would have been not trying to attempt it at all.
