Aidan O’Brien continued his dominance of the European two year old scene by unleashing the Justify colt City Of Troy to demolish the opposition in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket.
City Of Troy had been very impressive on his two starts prior to Newmarket, winning on his debut at the Curragh before winning the Group 2 Superlative Stakes by 6 and a half lengths on Newmarket’s July course.
With a sky-high reputation to defend and huge potential to protect there were some doubts about whether the heavy overnight rain would cause the O’Brien team to re-think running plans and withdraw the colt but after O’Brien had walked the course prior to the first race they took the decision to run him.
Any doubts certainly didn’t cause indecision in the mind of jockey Ryan Moore who bounced City of Toy out of the stalls and into an early lead, a lead the pair never relinquished.
Moore quickly had the horse in a good rhythm and once he asked for an effort after the dip as they met the rising ground just over a furlong out City Of Troy drew away from the rest of them in commanding fashion.
The win was met with relief and anticipation among connections with the trainer keen to praise the horse’s ability to cope with the conditions. “You need tractor tyres to go on that ground, and he hasn’t got that. What he does have is a jet engine and his engine pushed his action through. We usually push them to the limit, but we could never find his limit. That’s why he’s very unusual.”
Joint owner Michael Tabor was in attendance and his enthusiasm was evident. “He really is our Frankel. I know the way Aidan speaks. We’re all optimists, but this horse is special. No question, he’s the real deal. That’s what we feel at this moment. Maybe down the line we’ll have egg on our face, but I like to talk before the event and I really feel this horse could be anything.”
Online bookmakers were quick to cut City Of Troy and he is now 10/11 favourite for the 2,000 Guineas and 9/4 favourite for the Derby. In the immediate aftermath of the race they offered 10/1 that the colt would become the first horse since Nijinsky in 1970 to win the Triple Crown and Tabor hinted that would be a real possibility were the first two legs go their way, “It’s always been John Magnier’s dream to win the Triple Crown and we were very unlucky with Camelot being beaten all those years ago in the third leg. The St Leger can maybe be a trip too far but, for me, the Guineas and the Derby are very realistic, and any top race after that.”
Those looking for support in terms of the colt’s stamina will take heart from his full brother Bertinelli who lasted home well enough to finish third over a mile and a half in a competitive handicap at Royal Ascot earlier this year while the filly Unless who is also, like City Of Troy, out of a Galileo mare won a Listed event over a mile and a quarter.
