Troy not to be Eclipsed
A win is a win
If you scrolled through social media on Saturday afternoon after Sandown’s Eclipse card, you would think that City Of Troy had blew out again and been beaten by a bunch of handicappers on what was supposed to be his crowning moment. The son of Justify continues to be the most divisive horse in recent memory – well at least since his stablemate Augsute Rodin last year! I think we are seeing a pattern here.
An imperious two-year-old who captured not just our imagination, but also that of his powerful ownership group of Coolmore. ‘He could be our Frankel’. ‘Justifys are Galileos with more class…..they are quicker than Galileos’. ‘He could be the best horse I have ever trained’. We heard it all over the winter following his dazzling Dewhurst success, and the excitement only built following his dominant Derby victory. However, was this all simply a marketing ploy to fill up the stallion brochure come the end of the season? Or was the hype really justified? That was what we all eagerly awaited to find out at Sandown.
Unfortunately, it was far from a vintage renewal of the open-age Group 1. Tattersalls Gold Cup winner White Birch suffered a setback, Derby runner-up Ambiente Friendly opted for the Curragh, Luxembourg or Auguste Rodin were never going to take on Coolmore’s prized asset and Royal Ascot winner Jayarebe was a non-runner on account of the ground. What was left then was Al Riffa, a Group 1 winner as a two-year-old but arriving on the back of getting stuffed at Saratoga, Ghostwriter, good fourths in both the Guineas and Prix du Jockey Club but winless at the top level, Dancing Gemini, who had over eight lengths to make up on their Derby run, and See The Fire, fifth in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot. Oh, and how could we forget Hans Andersen, a 450,000gns son of Frankel who at this point is just the Ballydoyle pacemaker. An embarrassment of riches, it must be said!
Taking all this into account then, punters duly sent the superstar three-year-old off at restrictive odds of 1/4. As expected, Hans Andersen set off as the pacemaker and when they turned into the straight was bustled to a three-length lead. City Of Troy led the chasing pack with Ghostwriter at his side, but as you expected Ryan Moore to cruise up to his stablemate, he had to get busy in the saddle to push his mount into the lead. He was forced to work early enough then two furlongs from home, whilst Al Riffa travelled stylishly in behind. He hung to the right under pressure, and had shown signs earlier in the race, and lugged over the far rail with Al Riffa making significant headway down the outside. However, City Of Troy showed real grit and determination to hold off the two in behind.
On the surface then, this was a disappointing, subpar effort from one hailed as an all-time-great. A workmanlike battle to stave off the 114-rated Al Riffa (giving City Of Troy 10lbs) and the 112-rated Ghostwriter is hardly top-class form and it is hard to disagree with many of his detractors on this point.
Reading all of this then, you would be hard pressed to believe we are City Of Troy believers. But I do think there are a few important points to consider before we write him off as ‘overrated’ or a ‘hype machine’. Firstly, the ground. We know that he has won the Dewhurst on soft and the Derby on good-to-soft, but Aidan O’Brien has always been at pains to say this does not suit the fluid mover. The ground was beginning to get really testing, and this no doubt would have blunted the speed of City Of Troy. Let us wait until he gets really good-to-firm ground before we jump to early conclusions about his ability. Second, the pace. City Of Troy showed he wants a stern test when unable to be pulled up after the line in the Derby off a strong gallop over a mile-and-a-half. Hans Andersen couldn’t take his stablemate all that far into the race, and City Of Troy was left with two furlongs from home. And finally, perhaps the form is better than it first looks. Al Riffa is a National Stakes winner who last year got to within a length of Ace Impact on route to his Arc success and again was beaten less than a length in the Prix Ganay on his return. Granted he ran no sort of race in the States last time, but he is seen to his best when the ground has some cut in it (like it did at Sandown). Ghostwriter was pointed out by our friends over at Trackside as a compact powerhouse before the 2000 Guineas who was likely to improve physically as the season goes on. He ran a cracker when fourth in the Prix du Jockey Club and could just be improving on an upward curve.
Context is important, and whilst it is easy to be disappointed with the run (we of course were too) a Group 1 victory is a Group 1 victory. He showed a determined, battling attitude that we weren’t sure he had. There are talks of a run on the dirt in the Travers next on the agenda, to weigh up a possible Breeders’ Cup Classic bid at the end of the season, but I don’t think that is likely. The owners have Sierra Leonne for that race, and City Of Troy either goes on the dirt or he doesn’t; just wait for one big dart at Del Mar rather than waste a race in August. The Juddmonte International at York should be his next port of call. If the negative buzz continues around City Of Troy, he could actually be a backable price again and would be seriously tough to beat if he gets quick ground in August.
Wrong trip or wrong horse?
Those of you who read this page, and even our Flat Horses To Follow at the time, will know that we believed Regal Jubilee to be a ten-furlong horse, or perhaps even a mile-and-a-half horse in time. It shocked us then at the time when she ran so well to finish runner-up in the Fred Darling Stakes, in front of the Guineas winner at that. After looking outpaced in the Newmarket classic itself then, it was no surprise to see Frankel filly stepped up to a mile-and-a-quarter at Goodwood for the Height Of Fashion Stakes next time. She perhaps emerged as the best horse in the race on the day, Havlin giving her far too much to do from the rear under a waiting ride and running into trouble two-furlongs out, having to switch. It was to our shock then, after a positive showing up in distance, that she was dropped back to a mile for the Listed Coral Distaff at Sandown, albeit on her favoured soft ground.
She couldn’t quicken with the leaders in the final furlong and was ultimately finished one-paced into a well beaten fourth. Perhaps it isn’t the trip, and she just isn’t the horse we thought she was. But the more I look through her form, the more I believe we have seen nowhere near the best of her as a three-year-old. Her Listed victory last term has worked out extremely well; Je Zous fifth in the Ribblesdale, Beautiful Love a winner out in Meydan and You Got To Me a Listed winner who has since finished fourth in both the Oaks and Ribblesdale. As mentioned earlier too, she beat the Guineas winner on reappearance. I think she is worth another chance if stepping up in trip next time, and possible options could include the Listed Upavon at Salisbury next month (Gosden has won this with three-year-olds twice since 2015) or later in the season the John Musker Fillies’ Stakes at Yarmouth in September, in which Gosden is the contest’s leading trainer with six victories.
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