Some racehorses have such an aura about them that they develop their own fanbase – a hardy bunch of supporters that follows them up and down the country.
For lovers of City of Troy, the next date for their diaries is likely to be August 21, with Aidan O’Brien confirming that the horse will take to the track at York for the Juddmonte International Stakes.
Can he rack up a sixth win in seven starts?
Managing Expectations
Those placing a horse race bet on the International Stakes will note that City of Troy has been installed as the 5/4 favourite, although he's unlikely to have things all his own way.
Indeed, many racing tips columns may instead opt for the likes of Auguste Rodin (9/2) and Economics (5/1), who have shown plenty of form in 2024.
The confidence in City of Troy is born out of the three-year-old’s winning form, although those digging a little bit deeper than mere results will note that the latest product of the Magnier, Smith and Tabor ownership team has not had things all his own way.
City of Troy was well off the pace in his seasonal opener at Newmarket, while a win in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown in July was marred by the fact that the red-hot 1/4 favourite struggled to see off Al Riffa – in the end, winning by just a solitary length.
Competition will be much fiercer in the Group 1 at York, with former Derby champion Auguste Rodin also back to winning ways. He landed the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Ascot in June, leaving jockey Ryan Moore with the unenviable task of deciding which of the two powerhouses he will choose to ride.
Economics, meanwhile, is an improving horse who has course form on his side – he romped home by six lengths in the Dante Stakes at York in May. And while lacking the pedigree of his two main rivals for the International Stakes, the three-year-old evidently has talent to spare.
Ultimately, the race may be decided – as so many are on the Flat – by the weather and going…
Firm Believer
There’s no doubt that the best work of Auguste Rodin and Economics has come on good ground, so their connections will be hoping that the rain stays away during what has been an unseasonably cool and damp British summer.
City of Troy, on the other hand, has won on softer going. And while O’Brien believes that his best work comes from firmer ground, the Coolmore ownership team have shown a willingness to run the three-year-old when there’s been some give in the surface – his outstanding win in the Epsom Derby back in June coming on good-to-soft ground.
It will be edifying to O’Brien that the horse found an extra gear in the home straight at Sandown, despite the soft ground, so despite the Irishman’s public protestations, he might be performing a rain dance in the lead up to the August renewal in a bid to get the conditions that might see Auguste Rodin and Economics withdrawn from the International Stakes altogether.
There’s every chance that City of Troy will be retired at the end of the season – something O’Brien himself has alluded to. Swansongs wouldn’t come more fitting than yet another Group 1 victory.
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