Aidan O'Brien squeezes onto the City Of Troy celebration picture
Dewhurst reaction: Aidan O'Brien hails CIty Of Troy
By David Ord
16:44 · SAT October 14, 2023
Aidan O'Brien was quick to hail City Of Troy as the best two-year-old he's ever trained after his stunning win in the Native Trail's Dewhurst Stakes.
That's some accolade given this was the trainer's eighth success in this race alone and his personal roll of honour includes the likes of Rock Of Gibraltar (2001), Churchill (2017) and St Mark’s Basilica (2020).
But none made the visual impressive this brilliant son of Justify did as he bounded three-and-a-half lengths clear of Alyanaabi and the chasing pack in ground connections insist was against him.
The trainer said: “He would have absolutely hated that ground and the stride on him is incredible, but he just never gets tired. We had nowhere else to run him and thank goodness we ran him.
“I wasn’t (tense) as I said to everyone he could get beat. He was entitled to get beat, but he just never gets tired. I’ve never seen a horse that doesn’t get tired. He goes again going to the line again. It is obviously part of his make-up. That would be his worst type of ground as Ryan said it was deep, sticky ground. You saw him going to the start, he hardly rose his legs and he hardly lifted his feet. We’ve never had anything like him. I’ve never had a horse that never gets tired. That is just the way it is.
Access to exclusive features all for FREE - No monthly subscription fee
Log in with your existing Sporting Life, Sky Bet, or Sky Games account. If you don't have any of those, it's completely FREE to register!
"I’ve never had a horse where we don’t know where the limit is. We usually push them to the limit, but we can never find his limit. He has done it the hard way as well, but he would be delighted to get a lead. He goes along with his ears pricked just lobbing along.
“Everything we’ve asked him to do he finds it very easy and we’ve never got to the bottom of him which is very unusual. Ryan rode him with extreme confidence. He said after the first race that is definitely not his ground as he is a beautiful mover. You need tractor tyres to go on that today, and he hasn’t got tractor tyres, but what he has is a jet engine and that jet engine just pushes his action through it.
“He is an incredible horse really. There is no doubt he is the best two-year-old I’ve trained. He is by Justify and it is a Justify trait in that they just keep going. His dad did it over in Belmont and he looked like a big sprinter, so it is obviously coming from Justify, and he is out of a great Galileo mare as well. I’m so delighted for the lads really. I’d imagine that is what they will do (go Guineas then Derby). He is something to really look forward to.”
We are committed in our support of safer gambling. Recommended bets are advised to over-18s and we strongly encourage readers to wager only what they can afford to lose.
If you are concerned about your gambling, please call the National Gambling Helpline / GamCare on 0808 8020 133.
