City of Troy On to Breeders' Cup After Southwell Work

Trainer Aidan O'Brien said it had been a privilege to be at Southwell Racecourse Sept 20, when hundreds of people had turned out on a non-raceday at the low-key venue just to get the chance to glimpse as good a horse as has likely ever stretched out at the track. City of Troy, a champion 2-year-old, Epsom Derby (G1) winner, and the highest-rated turf horse in the world after his tour de force in the Juddmonte International Stakes (G1), came to Southwell as part of his preparation for the Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), one of the few frontiers O'Brien has yet to conquer. O'Brien's choice of words for Southwell were polite and sincere, but those chosen for the son of 2018 American Triple Crown winner Justify were forensic and detailed as he picked out the portions of the mile workout that left him feeling particularly pleased. Good from the stalls; professional in navigating the sweeping left-hand bend; and satisfying how arrow-straight he was when asked to stretch out in the closing stages. "To look at it, it was never going to be overly impressive but we were all happy with what he did," O'Brien said. "I felt watching him today was the best I've seen him with Ryan (Moore) riding. Rachel (Richardson) normally rides him in all his work and I thought that Ryan was beautiful on him. "He galloped smoothly around the bend and when he said 'go' he really opened up and kept straight, which I loved. I'm sure everyone will have an opinion and it'll be analyzed over and over, so it'll be interesting to see what people say, but we were happy with it." It had been back in 2000 that O'Brien brought Giant's Causeway to Southwell to gallop on the then-Fibresand surface as part of his preparation for the Breeders' Cup Classic. It was a move that nearly worked a trick, as only the redoubtable Tiznow proved to be too good for the Iron Horse. Much has changed since that trip, not least the roads. A delayed car journey from the airport meant O'Brien arrived in the paddock at 3:45 p.m., half an hour after City of Troy entered it, and proceeded to provide energetic instructions to his five riders. The trainer's delayed appearance allowed for the anticipation to grow. Of the 1,400 people who had preregistered to attend, around half were at the course. They had their positions by the pre-parade ring and the paddock picked out a good hour before the horses arrived. The horses City of Troy galloped with—Congo River, Democracy (IRE), Master of The Hunt (IRE), and Edwardian—were rated between 34-40 pounds inferior, but they served their purpose as they allowed their glitzier stablemate to move clear on a Tapeta surface described as standard to slow by clerk of the course John Holliday. The crowd applauded vigorously as the workout ended. "He's like Giant's Causeway but quicker—and Giant's Causeway was very classy," O'Brien said. "This horse has a little more zest, he has a long stride and he's dour. His stride doesn't shorten, it lengthens and his pedigree with Justify is all dirt, so he should improve for going on to it. It was always going to be more grueling than impressive as we wanted the surface prepared more like dirt." After the gallop, jockey Ryan Moore and O'Brien stopped for photographs and signed autographs, including for local trainer Scott Dixon, while York's chief executive William Derby was also among the crowd. One person even managed to persuade O'Brien to part with his City of Troy branded gilet. Moore seemed particularly at ease after the gallop, and said: "He's an unusual horse and he showed at York how good he was. If he can transfer that level of ability to the dirt then he has to have a good chance. "I sat on him last week and he's doing well, getting better. Today was just to get him out and to get a good blow into him." It would be hard to describe the outing as anything other than positive for City of Troy. Indeed, O'Brien even saw his delay as a good thing, calling it "priceless" that City of Troy was able to parade with a crowd for an extended period of time to help mirror the raceday experience. Whose privilege it really was at Southwell—O'Brien's or the spectators—will be answered at Del Mar Nov. 2, and the trainer added: "We have tried to do what's best for him. We're preparing for a race that we've never won before, but when he came along we felt he was a horse who could make it happen. We've tried to tick all the boxes we thought we needed to tick, that way we can feel like we are giving him the best."