City of Troy

Six homebreds take on five sales graduates for the opening Classic of the British season. The spotlight will very much rest on odds-on favourite City Of Troy, who is one of five Classic runners for his Triple Crown-winning sire Justify in Newmarket and Kentucky in the space of three days. Shamardal, his sons Lope De Vega and Blue Point, and grandson Phoenix Of Spain are each represented by a runner, as is Dubawi and his two sons Night Of Thunder and Too Darn Hot. For the complete field, please click...

Team Ballydoyle's crack colt City Of Troy (Justify) has 10 peers to overcome in Saturday's G1 QIPCO 2000 Guineas at Newmarket in his quest to follow the hoofprints of the wonderhorse with which he has drawn early comparison. With the stable removing all of his understudies including the similarly-unbeaten Henry Longfellow (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) on Thursday morning, the assembled cast will be the smallest for the time-honoured Rowley Mile Classic since 2017 when Ryan Moore enjoyed his last winning ride on Churchill (Ire). Three of the colts dispatched by Coolmore's...

We could run the numbers, as they say. What they will tell us is that Aidan O'Brien has dominated racing both in his home country of Ireland and its nearest neighbour, where he will this Saturday be inducted into the QIPCO British Horseracing Hall of Fame.  It doesn't end there, of course. He is known and revered around the world, his tally of 419 Group or Grade 1 winners (including National Hunt) having also been chalked up in America, Australia, Canada, Dubai, France, Hong Kong and Italy. No other trainer...

The phrase "we'll never see his or her like again" is poignant, heartfelt, and often not true. To say the all-time greatest in sport has already been and gone traps us in the past. When Frankel won the 2011 2,000 Guineas with radiant ease I called the sports desk of The Observer from the football match I had been sent to cover and urged them to clear the decks for their Newmarket report. "The 2,000 Guineas isn't meant to be won like that," I told my sports editor. A wonder...

Were you at the Rowley Mile on October 17, 2014? Those autumn meetings are always special, and that particular Group 1 race day saw Belardo (Ire) beat Kodi Bear (Ire) in the Dubai Dewhurst S. some 35 minutes after what now looks to have been a rather special running of the Dubai Fillies' Mile.  If you were there that day you can reflect on the fact that you saw the dams of this weekend's favourites for the Qipco 2,000 Guineas and Qipco 1,000 Guineas finish first and second in the...

Following Monday's confirmation stage, City Of Troy (Justify) remains the standout name among 14 colts who have stood their ground for Saturday's G1 Qipco 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket. Unbeaten in three starts as a two-year-old, G1 Dewhurst S. winner City Of Troy is the odds-on favourite to provide trainer Aidan O'Brien with a record-extending 11th success in the first British Classic of the season. O'Brien also has G1 National S. winner Henry Longfellow (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) still engaged, plus G2 Champions Juvenile S. hero Diego Velazquez (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) and...

City Of Troy, the odds-on favourite for the G1 Qipco 2,000 Guineas, pleased his connections in a gallop on Friday morning ahead of his Classic date at Newmarket on Saturday, May 4. Unbeaten in three starts as a two-year-old, culminating with a dominant three-and-a-half-length victory in the G1 Dewhurst S. on the Rowley Mile in October, City Of Troy will be having his first run of the season in the 2,000 Guineas having skipped the trials. It's a tried-and-tested route for Aidan O'Brien--the most successful trainer in the race's history...

Twenty-one colts have stood their ground at the latest forfeit stage for the G1 Qipco 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on Saturday, May 4. They include the outstanding juvenile of 2023, City Of Troy (Justify), last seen winning the G1 Dewhurst S. on the Rowley Mile by three and a half lengths. City Of Troy is one of four entries left in the 2,000 Guineas for Aidan O'Brien, the most successful trainer in the history of the Classic with 10 wins. The potential challenge from Ballydoyle is completed by Diego Velazquez...

Aidan O'Brien is busy preparing for what could turn out to be one of his boldest ever campaigns at Ballydoyle with plans in place for City Of Troy (Justify) to tackle the 2,000 Guineas and the Derby followed by an audacious tilt at the Travers S. on the dirt at Saratoga later this summer. Meanwhile, dual Derby and Breeders' Cup hero Auguste Rodin (Deep Impact {Jpn}), arguably the most important older horse to have been kept in training at Ballydoyle for many years, is set to get his campaign underway...

Richard Hannon has said there is not one horse that he would swap Rosallion (Ire) (Blue Point {Ire}) for and reported the Group 1 winner to be firmly on course for the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on May 4.  Previously described as "right up there with the best we've ever had" by his handler, Rosallion is a general 8-1 chance for Classic glory at Newmarket.  His big day in the sun last year came when storming to G1 Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere glory and confidence is clearly high in the camp...

The entries for the first two Classics of the season have been released, with 49 horses entered in each of the Qipco 2,000 Guineas and Qipco 1,000 Guineas. The colts will line up at Newmarket on Saturday, May 4 when it is likely that much of the attention will focus on the unbeaten City Of Troy (Justify), who at this stage is the ante-post favourite for the 2,000 Guineas. Trained by Aidan O'Brien, he has left Ireland for two of his three starts to win the G2 Superlative S. at...

A total of 72 horses have been entered for the 2024 G1 Derby at Epsom Downs on Saturday, June 1, the richest race in Britain with total prize-money of £1.5 million. Of the 72, 23 are trained in Ireland, including the outstanding juvenile of 2023, City Of Troy (Justify), last seen winning the G1 Dewhurst S. at Newmarket by three and a half lengths in impressive fashion. He is one of 17 entries for Aidan O'Brien, the most successful trainer in the history of the Classic having saddled nine winners since...