Beginning with Giant’s Causeway in 2000 and continuing through Galileo, High Chaparral, Camelot, and Auguste Rodin, barely a year has passed without an Aidan O’Brien-trained superstar lighting up the track. During the 2023 and 2024 seasons, the Coolmore colt to generate more column inches than most went by the name of City Of Troy.
A product of prime US and European breeding lines, City Of Troy was always likely to receive more attention than your average newcomer. That attention began before the good-looking bay first hit the track, with the rumour mill suggesting O’Brien had something a little out of the ordinary lurking at his Ballydoyle base.
Making his debut in July 2023 and retiring following his run in the 2024 Breeders’ Cup Classic, City Of Troy didn’t quite conquer all in his path. However, there were only a couple of blips in his short but stellar career.
Bred for Greatness
When assessing the pedigree of any Coolmore superstar, the name of the great Galileo is rarely too far away. The 2001 Derby champ has done more to fuel the Ballydoyle fire than any other sire. Counting a record-setting five Derby winners among his achievements, the son of Sadler’s Wells is unquestionably among the greatest stallions of all time.
In the case of City Of Troy, Galileo appears on the dam side of the pedigree, as the sire of City Of Troy’s dam, Together Forever. At the racetrack, Together Forever achieved her finest hour when winning the Group 1 Fillies’ Mile in 2014. Four years later, her full sister, Forever Together, stormed to a 4½l success in the Oaks.
To see a talented Galileo mare in a Coolmore pedigree was nothing new. However, City Of Troy represented the operation’s first major success with U.S. sire, Justify. As the winner of the 2018 U.S. Triple Crown, there was no doubting Justify’s potential as a sire. However, having raced exclusively on dirt, there was some doubt as to how well his progeny would fare on turf. City Of Troy wasted little time in dispelling those doubts.
Flawless Juvenile Campaign
| Date | Race | Course | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1/7/23 | Maiden | Curragh | 1st |
| 15/7/23 | Superlative Stakes | Newmarket | 1st |
| 14/10/23 | Dewhurst Stakes | Newmarket | 1st |
Before City Of Troy, Justify had sired only one winner in Britain – City Of Troy’s full-brother Bertinelli, who won a lowly maiden at Dundalk in 2022. To make his name as a turf sire, Justify would need to produce a horse capable of performing at a significantly higher level. City Of Troy was that horse.
Even the most talented O’Brien runners often lack a little fitness first time out. That didn’t appear to be the case with City Of Troy when he made his debut in a Curragh maiden on 1 July 2023. Moving better the further he went in that 7f event, he only hit top gear close to the line, by which stage his long, raking stride had burnt off the competition.
Having passed his first test so convincingly, City Of Troy travelled to Newmarket for the Group 2 Superlative Stakes just 14 days later. What followed was a staggering display of front-running and raw power. Again catching the eye with the amount of ground he covered with a single stride, City Of Troy blew the opposition away en route to a stunning 6½l success. By this stage, the bookmakers were already taking evasive action, seeing City Of Troy cut from 12/1 to 3/1 for the 2024 2,000 Guineas.
Having skipped the National Stakes due to rain, City Of Troy was allowed to take his chance in a soft-ground edition of the Dewhurst Stakes on his final start at two. Any doubts regarding the ground proved unfounded. Once again adopting a catch-me-if-you-can strategy, the emerging superstar landed his first Group 1 by a widening 3½l.
On the back of that Dewhurst display, Aidan O’Brien labelled City Of Troy as the most talented 2yo he had ever trained – quite the statement considering the cast of stars to have passed through Ballydoyle over the years. O’Brien wasn’t the only one impressed, with Cartier crowning City Of Troy the Champion Two-year-old Colt for 2023.
Classic Campaign: From Disaster to Triumph
| Date | Race | Course | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4/5/24 | 2000 Guineas | Newmarket | 9th |
| 1/6/24 | Epsom Derby | Epsom | 1st |
| 6/7/24 | Coral-Eclipse | Sandown | 1st |
| 21/8/24 | Juddmonte International | York | 1st |
Having proved a class apart in his juvenile campaign, City Of Troy topped the ante-post markets for both the 2,000 Guineas and the Epsom Derby, with some suggesting a tilt at the Triple Crown may be on the cards.
Those Triple Crown aspirations fell flat at Newmarket. Sent off at odds of 4/6 for the 2024 2,000 Guineas, City Of Troy looked a shadow of his two-year-old self in labouring to a 17-length ninth of 11 finish.
City Of Troy wasn’t the first well-fancied O’Brien runner to disappoint in the 2,000 Guineas, with Air Force Blue and Auguste Rodin two other examples of flopping favourites. Air Force Blue failed to win another race after his Newmarket defeat, while Auguste Rodin went on to five further Group 1 victories. Which camp would City Of Troy fall into?
Derby Delight: Back on Track at Epsom
The answer to that question arrived at Epsom on 1 June 2024. Despite his no-show in the Guineas, punters kept the faith in City Of Troy, who started as the 3/1 favourite in the Derby. Whatever had ailed the colt at HQ was nowhere to be seen at Epsom. Travelling well in midfield throughout, he began to scythe through the field in the straight, hit the front at the 2f pole, and forged on to score by 2¾l.
Confirms His Class at Sandown and York
With the Derby success proving he had retained his ability as a three-year-old, City Of Troy headed to Sandown for the Coral-Eclipse. Testing conditions turned the race into an arduous affair, but City Of Troy showed he had grit to go with his talent to grind it out for a one-length success.
With two Group 1s in the bag, City Of Troy made his final British start in a sizzling edition of the Juddmonte International at York. With French ace Calandagan, talented mare Bluestocking, and Epsom runner-up Ambiente Friendly in the field, this was his toughest test to date.
He passed it with flying colours. Grabbing the rail under Ryan Moore, he slowly but surely went through the gears to burn off his 12 rivals. Calandagan was the last to challenge but couldn’t get there as City Of Troy powered on relentlessly to land the Group 1 hat-trick.
Breeders’ Cup Disappointment but an Intriguing Addition to the Stallion Ranks
| Date | Race | Course | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2/11/24 | Breeders’ Cup Classic | Del Mar | 8th |
As a four-time Group 1 winner over trips ranging from 7f to 1m4f, City Of Troy had already secured his legacy. For his final act, he would attempt to fill one of the few blank spots on the Aidan O’Brien CV by winning the Breeders’ Cup Classic. Given the high-class dirt influence in his pedigree, hopes were high that he might be the horse to go one better than O’Brien’s Breeders’ Cup Classic runners-up Giant’s Causeway (2000) and Henrythenavigator (2008).
In the end, City Of Troy blew the start at Del Mar and found his challenge over almost as soon as it had begun. An underwhelming end to an outstanding Classic campaign, but City Of Troy had already done enough to be crowned the Cartier Champion Three-year-old Colt and Cartier Horse of the Year for 2024.
In bringing together the best of the US and European breeding lines, City Of Troy boasts immense value as a stallion. It was therefore no surprise when connections announced he would retire to stud at the end of his three-year-old season. His first offspring are expected to hit the track in mid to late 2027.
