World's Best Award Justified City of Troy's Early Hype

A lot of early buzz surrounded Coolmore's City of Troy as he entered the yard of trainer Aidan O'Brien as one of his top-rated 2-year-old prospects ever, but the Kentucky-bred son of Justify lived up to the expectations. Despite the pressure of turning an undefeated champion 2-year-old into a Classic-winning 3-year-old, O'Brien and his team kept on task and elevated City of Troy to the top of the racing world. On Jan. 21, he joined Laurel River as co-winner of the Longines World's Best Racehorse Award. The race that captured the title for City of Troy was a sensational triumph in the Aug. 21 Juddmonte International Stakes (G1) at York Racecourse, earning a 128 rating from the Longines World's Best Racehorse Rankings Committee. In that performance, he set a course record of 2:04.32 for the 2,050 meters (just over 1 1/4 miles) while defeating Royal Ascot group 2 winner Calandagan (GB) by one length, eventual Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe (G1) winner Bluestocking (GB) by 8 1/4 lengths, and Japanese grade 1 winner Durezza (JPN) by 10 1/2 lengths—a field good enough to earn the race top honors as Longines World's Best Horse Race in 2024. "He put up an incredible performance, probably as good a performance I've ever been involved with on a racecourse," said the colt's regular rider, Ryan Moore. The win was even more impressive considering he took the lead from the jump, a strategy that had not been employed in his previous group 1 victories. Moore said he made the decision to go to the lead to guarantee an even pace, allowing City of Troy to get into his rhythm. "He had an incredible stride, an incredible action throughout his limbs, and devoured ground, so we don't want to hinder that," Moore said. "We want him to get into that rhythm and keep going." "(Ryan) had in his mind that if he jumped forward, he was going to go forward," O'Brien said of the Juddmonte International. "It's a good track to do that. It was very special. All the best horses were there. He was very professional and impressive that day. "The Juddmonte, at that time of year, the 3-year-olds are all kind of on par with the older horses, so that's one of the biggest races. A difficult race to win and he broke the track record—it was incredible, really." The colt had gotten off to a shaky start to the year when ninth in the Two Thousand Guineas (G1), a performance O'Brien chalked up to being overly confident and not having him at his best. He quickly rebounded with strong wins in the Epsom Derby (G1) and Coral Eclipse Stakes (G1) prior to his award-winning victory. "He was such a good 2-year-old, he was unbeaten. There was always going to be a little bit of pressure to try and continue that on," O'Brien said. "It went wrong straight away in his first run back in the Guineas and put more pressure going on to the Derby. We were lucky, everybody did a great job to get him back." WATCH: Aidan O'Brien Discuss City of Troy's 2024 Season Perhaps the greatest sign of his impact on the racecourse did not come from a race, but rather a training session. While preparing for a switch to dirt to take on the challenge of the $7 million Breeders' Cup Classic (G1), City of Troy visited the Tapeta surface at Southwell Racecourse Sept. 20 for a workout. The stands were packed full with thousands of spectators from across Europe to see the young superstar train. "It was a great spectacle," O'Brien recalled. "We were incredibly delighted everyone did go and we really appreciate everyone that turned out. … It was a very memorable day." Even more memorable for O'Brien was when City of Troy earned him his 10th victory in the Epsom Derby, the race O'Brien says all of Europe's Thoroughbred breeders are judged on. "That's the race I think everyone wants to win every year," O'Brien said. "That's how the Thoroughbred breed is gauged." Now City of Troy's job will turn from winning the Epsom Derby to trying to sire a winner of the classic as he takes up stallion duty at Coolmore Stud in Ireland. The Coolmore fingerprints are everywhere you look on City of Troy. A son of Triple Crown winner Justify, who stands at Coolmore's Ashford Stud near Versailles, Ky., City of Troy is out of the group 1-winning mare Together Forever (IRE), a daughter of Coolmore's champion stallion Galileo. "We think he's going to be very special," O'Brien said about the new stallion. "He's a medium-sized horse, great mover, very determined, very good 2-year-old. We know Justify was an unbeaten Triple Crown winner, so that's incredible. And this horse did that at 2 as well. … We think he's done it all and has it all, so we're really looking forward to it."