‘I Wish They Made a Lot of Small Horses Like Him’: Magnier Lauds City Of Troy

YORK, UK — Those rather dangerous words issued last October after the Dewhurst don’t seem quite so bold now. “He’s our Frankel,” said City Of Troy’s part-owner Michael Tabor back then.

It may still seem like sacrilege, especially on a day when Juddmonte sponsors the big race, to compare any other Thoroughbred to Frankel, but at York there has truly been no anticipation so intense, no reception so rapturous, since Henry Cecil’s wonder horse took the Knavesmire by storm in the Juddmonte International Stakes 12 years ago.

Twelve years gone in a blink and a heartbeat, and it has been 15 since Sea The Stars completed the fourth leg of his six-run tour de force during his magnificent three-year-old season. He was remembered, too, at York on Wednesday. First through his son The Lion In Winter (Ire) – the only horse by the sire in all of Ballydoyle – who set a new track record when beating what looked to be a quality field in the G3 Tattersalls Acomb Stakes. He is all about the future, and certainly the bookies think so, as he is now around 6/1 favourite for next year’s Derby. It will be a long winter for fans of The Lion.

The present, though, belongs to City Of Troy, a colt of sheer brilliance whose one fluffed line has been the source of more crabbing and doubting than most top horses ever have to endure. He doesn’t know it though, and when Plan A faltered from the off and City Of Troy and Ryan Moore found themselves making the running for the 13-runner field of stars from afar, a back-up plan was swiftly deployed by Moore to boss the race from the front.

He is probably bored with hearing praise heaped on him, but we should not tire of witnessing the golden age of Moore, whose trademark calm under pressure enabled him and his unflappable partner to add the Juddmonte International Trophy to a cabinet which already contains those awarded for the Derby and the Eclipse.

In so doing, City Of Troy lowered the course record held by Sea The Stars when stopping the clock at 2m 4.32s. There was, however, no stopping the horse himself when, in customary fashion, he tanked on past the line once again looking like he was giving his rider a proper workout in his attempts to pull him up.

“It wasn’t really the plan and when you see he was getting hassled the whole way round and had to do it the hard way, it makes it a very impressive performance indeed,” said MV Magnier, representing another of City Of Troy’s part-owners, his mother Sue.

“He beat Sea The Stars‘s record by more than a second and that speaks volumes really. He’s a very special horse and we are very lucky to have him.”

And, with a wry riposte to the many jokes back in the spring about City Of Troy’s height, he added, “I wish they made a lot of little horses like him.”

Though the Coolmore team is well used to competing for huge purses at the world’s richest race meetings, the efforts that the York Race Committee has put into this week’s Sky Bet Ebor Festival have not gone unnoticed. None of the 28 races over the four days are worth less than £100,000 and the total prize-money on offer is £6.85 million. Wednesday’s Juddmonte International Stakes, at £1.25 million, was the most valuable race ever run on the Knavesmire.

Magnier said, “I just have to say that the job that York racecourse has done here is second to no other racecourse in England. What they have put into prize-money, they deserve to get the very best horses in the world coming here because of what they have put into this meeting, with the World Pool and everything.”

The next question will be where we will see this son of Justify race next. City Of Troy has run just once, on debut, in Ireland where he is trained, and the British crowds have reaped the benefits of his six runs since then. But it is to the land of his birth that Aidan O’Brien often refers when pondering his future, and a tilt at the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar has to be likely now, perhaps after he adds a few thousand to the gate for the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes in mid-September.

Wherever he goes, make the effort to go with him. They are a long time retired these good horses, but those days when you can say ‘I was there’ live on even longer in the memory.