City of Troy Silences Doubters in Epsom Derby

City of Troy  silenced his doubters in emphatic fashion as last year’s champion juvenile bounced back to form with a dominant success in the Epsom Derby (G1) June 1 at Epsom Racecourse.

UNREAL! CITY OF TROY wins the @betfred Derby!

Trainer Aidan O’Brien has DONE IT AGAIN 😮 pic.twitter.com/42FvzE28Ct

— Epsom Downs Racecourse (@EpsomRacecourse) June 1, 2024

Ballydoyle’s latest star was a bitterly disappointing ninth on his seasonal reappearance in the Two Thousand Guineas (G1) but he rebounded from that defeat with a brilliant performance. He beat the strong-traveling and well-backed Ambiente Friendly  to land his second group 1 after his sensational success in last year’s Dewhurst Stakes (G1).

This was a record-extending 10th Derby victory for trainer Aidan O’Brien and a fourth for jockey Ryan Moore.

City of Troy, the 3-1 favorite, broke from stall 1 and was settled towards the rear of the field by Moore as his stablemates Euphoric  and Los Angeles  forced the pace. Voyage unseated Pat Dobbs out of the stalls and later intimidated the runners in the home straight.

” [Aidan O’Brien] always said that this is a fantastic horse. He proved that as a 2yo winning the Dewhurst, and now he’s won the Derby, and I’m sure he’s got a great future.”@jess_stafford_ spoke with @coolmorestud‘s Michael Tabor about Derby winner CITY OF TROY. pic.twitter.com/w6aPMjctdd

— FanDuel Racing (Formerly TVG) (@FanDuel_Racing) June 1, 2024

Moore had ground to make up in the home straight but made it swiftly towards the inside of the track aboard City of Troy, who found generously on his first start beyond a mile to win by 2 3/4 lengths.

“It was hard to know what would happen today, but I was very sure we had the best horse,” Moore told ITV Racing. “At Newmarket, it didn’t happen and we can’t pretend we knew it would happen but we do know he has a big engine.

“He showed himself to be a brilliant 2-year-old. In the Guineas, we got a few things wrong, but it’s great that he could come back today. He was still a little bit immature, it’s the first time he’s run around a bend and hopefully, there’s plenty more to work on.

“It was sensational. He was going to win very easily and then with the loose horse in front of him, he was still a bit unsure, but he galloped out strong. He quickened well and kind of waited so you’d have to be delighted with what happened today.”

City of Troy holds entries in the St James’s Palace Stakes (G1), Irish Derby (G1), Eclipse Stakes (G1), Irish Champion Stakes (G1), and Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (G1). Betfair reacted by cutting him to 5-1 (from 16) for the Arc Oct. 6 and 12-1 (from 20) for the Eclipse July 6.

Co-owner Michael Tabor of Coolmore told reporter Jess Stafford after the race that City of Troy could likely venture to the United States and try the dirt sometime in the near future. 

“It’s obviously on our mind,” said Tabor. “We’re going to sit down and think about it. It’s always been a passion of ours to try to win the (Breeders’ Cup) Classic. We were second with Giant’s Causeway (in the race in 2000) and being by Justify you think surely we’ll give it a try eventually. Although having said that we have Sierra Leone (in the U.S.) who will obviously be a horse for the Classic.”

City of Troy’s sire Justify  , who stands at Coolmore’s U.S. stallion operation, Ashford Stud, captured the 2018 U.S. Triple Crown. The son of Scat Daddy sired his first classic winner with City of Troy.

“I’m so grateful to everybody,” O’Brien said. “The exciting thing for us is Justify. He looked very special all the way and the class that they have, they have speed and stamina. Ryan gave him an incredible ride.

“We knew the Guineas went totally wrong, I made mistakes training him and that’s the bottom line. There are stones that I didn’t look under. He was too fresh, was unprepared and that was the reality of it. We all know the facts and we spoke about it.

“I knew the ability he had but he was too fresh going into the Guineas. Since then, everything has been beautiful. The cruising speed that he has, and the ability he has, it’s very exciting for everybody.”

When asked if City of Troy was his best Derby winner, he said: “I’d say no doubt.”

Ambiente Friendly, who was the subject of a high-profile jockey switch, raced more prominently than the winner and ran creditably under Robert Havlin for James Fanshawe to finish second.

The Leopardstown Derby Trial Stakes (G3) winner Los Angeles finished third under Wayne Lordan, while Green Team Racing filled the fourth and fifth places with Deira Mile and Sayedaty Sadaty . Last year’s Futurity Trophy Stakes (G1) winner Ancient Wisdom  finished eighth for Godolphin.