'Today Was His Best': Classic Ahoy as City Of Troy Storms Southwell 

SOUTHWELL, UK — It is not often that the eyes of the racing world are on Southwell. The country track had been closed to the public for nine months until early August following extensive flooding, but on Friday it was the place to be as the top-rated horse in Europe, City Of Troy, descended on Nottinghamshire with an entourage akin to a Taylor Swift tour. He even brought his own American starting stalls.

And swift is how he looked as he eased clear of the five-strong working party from Ballydoyle, travelling straight and true toward the winning post to the applause of the 700-plus members of the public who had turned out to see the son of Justify. They wouldn't have been disappointed, and neither was City Of Troy's trainer Aidan O'Brien, who, along with Ryan Moore, was mobbed for autographs and selfies as they returned post-gallop. 

“He is different and he knows it,” was O'Brien's assessment of the four-time Group 1 winner who will attempt to become the first horse to win the Derby and the Breeders' Cup Classic. He will be his trainer's 15th challenger in the latter. 

“He's a hardy customer. I thought today was his best,” O'Brien continued. “Ryan had his hands down on him and he travelled in a relaxed manner. He came into the straight very balanced and straight and when Ryan let him down, he was as straight as a gun barrel. Me, watching him here, that's the best I have ever seen him with Ryan.”

He added, “He was happy to follow the other horses, he was happy to come through them, and he was happy to sit with them when he turned in. When they turned in, he didn't think that he had to charge away. 

“I loved the way he galloped up the straight. And he galloped out around the bend.”

The build-up to this 4pm workout had started some three hours earlier, with people queuing for the gates of Southwell to open. One racing fan had come all the way from Croatia. The racecourse's management team must be given full credit for creating a real sense of occasion. Bars and restaurants were open, a mini racecard had been printed with colours and pedigrees for the runners and riders in this special 'race', while the big screens showed racing from meetings around the country.

Not since Aidan O'Brien brought Giant's Causeway then Galileo to the track at the turn of the century has it been used as a primer for a dirt contender in the Breeders' Cup Classic. The surface at Southwell has changed since then, from its original deep Fibresand to Tapeta, but the clerk of the course John Holliday had arranged for the track to be harrowed deeper than usual for a more attritional workout, and perhaps to increase the kickback. 

The four-year-old Congo River (Mendelssohn) and the No Nay Never three-year-olds Democracy (Ire), Master Of The Hunt (Ire) and Edwardian, ridden by Brett Doyle, Wayne Lordan, Rachel Richardson and Dean Gallagher respectively, accompanied City Of Troy, who, prior to this day, had made six trips to Britain for racing purposes and has raced only once in Ireland on his debut. 

“They broke fast and we had two miler-type horses up front and we knew that they would have to go faster than him early,” O'Brien said. “Ryan wanted to go forward but he didn't want to rev him up too much, but when he goes to America he doesn't want to have him in the habit of waiting. The lads purposely had the track slower than they normally would so it was always going to be more gruelling than impressive. We were only going to go a mile.”

Asked about the relative lack of kickback from the Southwell surface compared to what City Of Troy is likely to face at Del Mar, he added, “Really, in America you prefer not to get kickback. If you get kickback you get kickback but in an ideal world you don't want it. I think horses never really get used to kickback. Some horses will face it and some despise it. But it depends on the draw and the horses around you, where you're going to be.”

What started out being mooted as a racecourse gallop when it was announced after City Of Troy's victory in the Juddmonte International turned into an occasion very closely resembling a raceday. Those who had made the trip had come for just one reason and they made the most of it, lining the paddock rails, running through to the stands as the horses made their way out to the track, and, most touchingly, giving City Of Troy a lengthy ovation as he floated along the home straight. 

“It rapidly became obvious that we were going to have a decent crowd,” said Holliday. “And it just shows that the horse is always the star of the show.”

O'Brien said that he hadn't expected such a response from the public. “But we are very grateful to everybody,” he added. “He was walking around the paddock for all that time before we got here and he will have felt the atmosphere. That is absolutely priceless for him. He felt he was racing. It was all lovely and he still worked, he blew off quick. He wasn't panicked. I don't think anyone could have done more. 

“Everybody here was a big help to him. He went down fine, walked into the stalls like a man – there was no waiting. He has to come out of it: he has to be okay tomorrow. If he is, then his programme will start. In a racehorse's life, every day is a big one – and especially training for those big races, as really you have to train as if there is no tomorrow.”

For City Of Troy, tomorrow is all about Del Mar, where the surf meets the turf, and where he will meet his date with destiny. Today, though, was a chance for the diehards to take a front-row seat and appreciate the special horse he is already. The day the Derby winner came to Southwell.