City Of Troy © Photo Healy Racing
City Of Troy faces seven rivals as he shoots for further Group One gold in Saturday’s Coral-Eclipse at Sandown.
Aidan O’Brien’s charge disappointed on his initial run this term when well beaten in the 2000 Guineas before roaring back to form with a two-and-three-quarter-length verdict in the Derby last month.
He is long odds-on to strike over 10 furlongs for the first time in the weekend highlight, with stablemate and outsider Hans Andersen joining him on the trip to Esher.
As expected, White Birch was not declared with O’Brien’s Continuous and Luxembourg the others to miss out from an initial entry of 11.
This is the first Derby winner O’Brien has taken to the Eclipse and he has no qualms about bringing City Of Troy back in distance.
“Obviously he had an easy week or 10 days after Epsom and then his build up started slowly for the Eclipse, so that was the plan,” he said.
“When we got him back going we had the choice of the Eclipse or the Irish Derby, Los Angeles went for the Irish Derby and the plan was for City to come here.
“Obviously he’d never been on a turning track before, or an undulating one, he’d never been over further than a mile and he’d never been dropped in in a race so he had an awful lot to learn (at Epsom).
“Ryan (Moore) went out with the mindset that he was just going to let him relax and feel his way with him and that’s what he did. He was delighted, he said a furlong down he just took off and that is what we saw with him last year, which is a very unusual trait in a horse.”
As for the decision not to run Luxembourg, O’Brien added: “We felt Hans Andersen would be enough and he’ll go forward. Obviously in these championship races you want an even pace.
“Luxembourg might go to the King George with Auguste Rodin, that’s what we’re thinking at the moment.”
Dancing Gemini finished sixth at Epsom, beaten just over eight lengths, but he tries his luck again for Roger Teal after previously suffering a narrow defeat when second in the French 2000 Guineas.
Kieran Shoemark takes the mount on Dancing Gemini as regular partner Dylan Browne McMonagle is required to ride Al Riffa for Joseph O’Brien, with the duo having finished a promising fourth in the Prix Ganay at the start of the campaign before the colt ran down the field in America last time out.
Jayarebe takes a steep hike in class for Brian Meehan after winning the Group Three Hampton Court Stakes at Royal Ascot, having also won the Feilden Stakes this term.
Owner Jeff Smith will be double-handed with both the Clive Cox-trained Ghostwriter and Andrew Balding’s See The Fire lining up.
Ghostwriter has finished fourth in both the 2000 Guineas and French Derby this term and is towards the head of the betting, while See The Fire is a likely outsider having finished down the field in the 1000 Guineas before coming home fifth in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Cox is hoping firmer ground will enable Ghostwriter to show his turn of foot to better effect than in France, but he has a lot of respect for the Derby winner.
Ahead of the British Champions Series event he said: “I think we are all realistic about what we saw in the Derby, which was a supreme performance.
“We are highly respectful of that, but we feel that a mile and a quarter at Sandown is the best route for Ghostwriter and just hope that conditions remain on the drier side.
“Ghostwriter has always had that little bit of a swagger and a visible confidence in everything he’s done. He’s a colt we’ve always held in high regard and he was an admirable two-year-old, when he was unbeaten and he finished off with a very good win in the Royal Lodge Stakes. I still think there’s more to come.”
Stay Alert completes the line up, making a swift return just seven days after taking a distant fifth place in the Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh.
