It may only be August, and there are still almost three months of the flat season to go, but any talk around the leading flat horse of the season can come to an end after the performance of City Of Troy in York’s Juddmonte International on Wednesday.
One of my favourite meetings of the year, the star race of that meeting, and a superstar performance from a horse that Aidan O’Brien describes as “the best horse I’ve ever trained”.
City Of Troy Puts Up Dazzling Performance in Juddmonte
As a seasoned attendee of the York Ebor Festival, the Juddmonte is one of my favourite races on the calendar, a race I take a bigger interest in than most. And I can’t remember a renewal as strong as the one we had on Wednesday. It was a thrilling card to read on the morning of the race.
It didn’t disappoint either, but despite the high-quality field, City Of Troy came away in enthralling fashion and had those in behind strung out at fairly large intervals.
He broke the course record by almost a second, ahead of Sea The Stars when he won the Juddmonte, we all remember how good he was on his day.
I’ve seen other horses win this race in great style, but more often than not, you can question what they’ve beaten, as the field has been either very small or lacking in natural star talent.
I don’t think you can say that this time around.
When you think of the races that take place over 1m2f at York, the Juddmonte and the Dante to name a few, we’ve seen some top quality horses run here, and City Of Troy was faster than them all.
The wind may have helped a little on the day, but that can only account for so much, the rest is down to the sheer quality of the animal.
After the race, his performance was given a Timeform rating of 129+. I’d argue he was worth a pound or two more, but that’s all down to people having different opinions.
Authorized, who was given a rating of 131 in 2007, is the only three-year-old to be given a higher rating for their performance in the Juddmonte International over the last century.
Since beginning his training regime as a two year old, trainer O’Brien has always spoken very highly of this runner, claiming him to be the best he’s ever trained.
We saw his quality as a two year old last season, and barring one race this season, we’ve seen it again.
Next up appears to be the Breeders’ Cup Classic, he’s the current favourite for that, and has a strong profile when you look at him, a front running horse who stays all the way to the line.
Will City Of Troy go Down as One of the Greats?
In the aftermath of the race, there was a lot of talk around whether the performance would take City Of Troy up to being one of the all time greats.
For me, he’s on the brink of that, regardless of where he goes next, you don’t get many horses winning the Derby, Eclipse and Juddmonte on the bounce like he has.
But hanging over him will always be his failure in the 2000 Guineas, where he trailed in 9th when odds on and expected to win the race at the start of this season.
Things didn’t go to plan that day, or in the build up at home, but ultimately, it is a stain on his record. Something Frankel didn’t have, and can we ever put City Of Troy up there with Frankel while that is on his record?
He’s the horse of the year already for me, and it doesn’t matter what happens in the US, nothing will change that.
If he comes back and dominates next season, which I hope he does, then he goes right towards the top of the tree.
Nothing may ever be enough to overtake Frankel and his sublime record, but City Of Troy could well be the closest we’ve come since Frankel was on the track.