3 minute read
Aidan O'Brien looks to have another exceptional prospect on his hands as City Of Troy produced a breathtaking performance to remain unbeaten in the Group 2 Superlative Stakes at Newmarket.
It was a race that promised plenty on paper with a number of top connections represented by impressive last-time-out winners, but none were able to match the power and pace of City Of Troy, who stamped his Classic credentials with a remarkable performance to make it two from two in his short career to date.
His commanding Curragh debut success left Ryan Moore waxing lyrical about the son of Justify and it's easy to see why now.
The pace looked generous with Spanish Phoenix, Son, and Haatem all towards the fore during the early exchanges. Ryan Moore was happy to sit up with the speed towards the near side on the uncomplicated City Of Troy and nudged his mount to the front with three furlongs to run. Charlie Appleby's Great Truth, who was sent off the 10/3 second favourite following his impressive Leicester debut success, threatened to get involved towards the near side rail, but it soon became apparent that this was very much a one-horse race.
Ryan Moore urged the well-backed 4/6 favourite City Of Troy for more entering the final two furlongs and the response was nothing short of exceptional. The Justify colt continued to lengthen his stride as he met the rising ground and eventually found himself a staggering six-and-a-half lengths clear at the line.
The Richard Hannon-trained Haatem won the battle for second with Chesham Stakes third, Oddyssey, a further three and a quarter lengths back in the same spot.
Aidan O'Brien, who was winning the race for the fourth time said: "He is a very unusual horse, and he has an unbelievable mind. No matter what speed you ask him to go he is happy to go. You sit handy, he is fast. He seems to keep pushing it out and there doesn't seem to be any limit to his trip. He can go and sit with anything. He is a lovely-natured horse.
"Ryan [Moore] got a fright at the Curragh the last day and he said it had never happened to him before. He galloped down to the wall as if it wasn't there. I knew today he was going to go early as there wasn't too long a run to the pull up here, so he was going to make sure he was going to be able to pull him up, but still I saw him go by the line and he started going again and I thought 'oh no'. He looks an incredibly special horse. I suppose he is exactly what John [Magnier] wanted Justify to have. He is pure Classic-bred, and he has movement, speed and stamina. It is all rolled into one.
"He looks very exciting, and Ryan gave him a beautiful ride. He was so kind with him. He went out of the gates, and he was happy to get a lead, or to lead and come straight up by himself, which is unusual for a horse that hasn't travelled or done anything except have one easy run at the Curragh. I was over the moon. He has the Futurity, the National Stakes and Dewhurst [as targets]. All those races are open to him. We backed him up quickly as this race came up lovely. The experience of coming over and travelling was going to stand him in good stead in case he didn't get to do much more this year. We always like to try travelling them at two if we can but now, he has done that. There are so many roads open to him. It is very exciting really.
"He has an unusual temperament, an unusual demeanour, an unusual stride and unusual ability. All the things are different. He looks very exciting at the moment."
Ryan Moore told ITV Racing: "You can only be impressed with what he has done on both his starts.
"Today he handled the ground but will be better on faster ground. He has got a lot of speed and stays very well. You can see how he is taking it all in and you have to be very happy with what he has done there. He is hard to fault at the moment.
"That was his second run, and he is still learning and hopefully he has had a nice experience. I think he has got a really good future."
Much like everyone else, Paddy Power were impressed with the performance and made the colt as short as 7/2 for 2000 Guineas glory next year. The same firm also cut the Ballydoyle youngster from 12/1 to 4/1 to land the 2024 Epsom Derby.
