City Of Troy (Justify), a winner of the G1 Derby, G1 Eclipse Stakes, and G1 International Stakes this spring and summer, is still on target for a Sept. 20 Southwell gallop, trainer Aidan O'Brien revealed during the Irish Champions Festival media event at Ballydoyle on Monday. The colt is aiming for a start in the GI Breeders' Cup Classic at Del Mar on Nov. 2.
O'Brien said, “He can go a mile, probably with four or five other horses and we'll go a good, strong pace and see what will happen. He'll work out of American [starting] stalls, so we'll have it as close as we can [to a race].
“Obviously we won't have the surface, but that's not a bad thing because we're coming off the grass and it's a little bit of a step in between, rather than the big jump straight away.
“We'll work the fastest horses we can and we'll go very hard for the first half [of the gallop]. I don't know what's going to happen as any horse we've sent to Southwell has never worked well, they always just about finish with their lead horse and maybe this will be the same, I don't know.”
Flawless at two with three wins including the G1 Dewhurst Stakes and G2 Superlative to his name from three starts, the bay made his 3-year-old bow when ninth in the G1 2000 Guineas at Newmarket. He's visited the winner's circle in each of his starts since, and made all of the running in the International Stakes at York on Aug. 21.
“We were waiting to let him go forward, but we only wanted to let him do it before the Classic as while he was aggressive the last day, he'll be more aggressive the next day,” he said.
“We didn't want to do that until very late because of what happened in the Guineas. It just took a long time to get back and we had to do it very subtle without him knowing. We had to keep him moving forward, so it took us a long time to get back to [front-running] at York.
“Ryan (Moore) went forward at York, but it was still controlled aggression. I know him and the next day he will hit the gates and want to go.”
A victory in the Classic has proven elusive for O'Brien, who added, “We think what he did is going to set him up well for America. We've never won the Classic, we've tried very hard for 25 years and it's a very difficult race to win.
“There's no doubt probably [he could be better as a 4-year-old], but he's unique and he's a different kind of a horse, so I'd imagine he'll have to go off to stud.
“He's just too different and from day one he was like that. He's a great shape–he's not too weak, he's not too small. He's perfectly proportioned and balanced and not extreme in any way.”
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