Continuing our series, Adam Houghton reveals his love affair with the Juddmonte International and where the latest name on the roll of honour ranks among his York greats.
Horse of the year: City Of Troy
'Boring!' I can almost hear the cries of derision from the desk here in my box room, the accusation that I'm simply following the crowd with another accolade for the mantelpiece of City Of Troy's altogether more roomy box at Coolmore Stud.
True, I'm unlikely to win any prizes for originality with this selection, but then how many other horses this year, if any, would have had the pulling power to have me planning a maiden visit to Southwell, on a day off from work, just to watch them participate in a racecourse gallop? Not many, I can tell you.
That power to put bums on seats like City Of Troy did belongs to only a select few. Whether you agree with Aidan O'Brien and his insistence that this was the best horse he's ever trained is really neither here nor there. What matters as a racing fan is how the son of Justify made you feel when you were watching him, the emotions he evoked on both his best and worst days.
From the deflation of his flop in the 2,000 Guineas to the glorious redemption of his victory in the Derby, we went through it all with City Of Troy in 2024, but the day that he really cemented his place in my affections was when he produced a tour de force to win the G1 Juddmonte International on my beloved Knavesmire.
It's a tried-and-tested path if you want to find favour with this local lad. The Juddmonte will always be my favourite contest in the Flat racing calendar and the teenage kicks I got out of being at York to see career-defining performances from the likes of Frankel (GB) and Sea The Stars (Ire) might never be surpassed, no matter how long I live to follow this sport. It's to the immense credit of City Of Troy that he probably came as close as any horse ever will.
It's one thing lowering the course record set by the great Sea The Stars some 15 years earlier, but it was the manner in which he did it, and the joy it brought, which I hope will live long in the memory, together with those Juddmonte titans of years gone by.
Sent straight to the front by Ryan Moore, City Of Troy simply wasn't for passing as the 13-strong field made its way up the long straight. Even at the line he still looked full of running, as became his trademark on his best days, this time after completing one mile, two furlongs and 56 yards of the Knavesmire faster than any horse in history.
It wasn't as if he was beating trees, either. Just look who finished immediately behind him, with the ace French raider Calandagan (Ire) (Gleneagles {Ire}), the subsequent G1 Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine Bluestocking (GB) (Camelot {GB}), and Durezza (Jpn) (Duramente {Jpn}), runner-up in last month's G1 Japan Cup, filling three of the next four places.
For those of us who had grown to love him, City Of Troy's swansong in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic didn't go as hoped, but again that's neither here nor there. What matters is how it felt to watch him, the nervous anticipation he engendered from over 5,000 miles away as he took his place in the stalls at Del Mar.
To have that effect on you is a power that belongs to only a select few and it's why, for me, 2024 will always be remembered as the year of City Of Troy. Boring it most certainly was not.
CITY OF TROY makes all in a stellar running of the £1.25m Juddmonte International! @yorkracecourse pic.twitter.com/H5CKF7kCCM
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) August 21, 2024
One for next year: Treble Tee
Treble Tee (Ire) made his way into my notebook when making a successful start to his career at Newmarket in late-October, but it was only when doing a bit of digging for a recent edition of Winter Watch that I decided this was the three-year-old colt I wanted to get behind in 2025.
The Aston Martin Novice Stakes looked a warm race of its type on paper, featuring a whole host of well-bred newcomers from powerful yards, and already its proving an informative contest with the fifth- and seventh-place finishers both winning on the all-weather in recent weeks.
In the race itself, Treble Tee belied his inexperience with a stylish performance, really impressing with the way he put the race to bed in the final furlong as he powered to the line over two lengths clear of Mudbir (GB) (Kingman {GB}), a sibling to the multiple Group 1 winners Mostahdaf (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and Nazeef (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) from the Gosden yard.
Trained by Simon and Ed Crisford, having been bought for €55,000 at the Arqana October Yearling Sale, Treble Tee is one of five winners from seven runners out of his Listed-winning dam, with the others including the G3 Prix Chloe heroine Suphala (Fr) (Frankel {GB}). A scopey sort, he's very much in the mould of his sire, Persian King (Ire), and it will be no surprise if he makes significant progress from two to three.
🏆 5 winners in just 8 days by #PersianKing !!!
Bred at Etreham, the debutant TREBLE TEE wins the @astonmartin Novice Stakes over 1400m at @NewmarketRace 🚀 A great result to cap off an exceptional week! 👑 Congratulations to all @edcrisford @SimonCrisford @the_doyler pic.twitter.com/pVsOkTKHGM
— Haras d'Etreham (@Haras_d_Etreham) October 23, 2024
Stallion to follow: Ardad
Ardad (Ire) was perhaps the surprise package among the leading first-crop sires of 2021, with the G1 Prix Morny and G1 Middle Park Stakes hero Perfect Power (Ire), G3 Sirenia Stakes scorer Eve Lodge (GB) and G2 Coventry Stakes third Vintage Clarets (GB) featuring among his 23 individual two-year-old winners in Europe that year.
Admittedly, it hasn't always been plain sailing for the son of Kodiac (GB) in the interim–last year he had only two juvenile winners from 13 runners–but I'm expecting big things from him in 2025 when the increased support he received from breeders after they witnessed the success of his first runners should start to bear fruit.
Standing at Overbury Stud for a fee of £12,500 in 2022, up from £4,000 the previous year, Ardad was the most active stallion in Britain that year when covering 205 mares. From that he reportedly has 153 two-year-olds to represent him in 2025, “by far his biggest and best-bred bunch so far,” according to Overbury's Simon Sweeting.
Only time will tell whether there's another Perfect Power among them, but sheer weight of numbers alone should give him every chance of coming up with another good one.
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