O’Brien shocked by City Of Troy’s Guineas flop

Aidan O’Brien was unable to offer an immediate apology after City Of Troy’s bubble truly burst at the Qipco 2000 Guineas at Newmarket.

The son of American Triple Crown hero Justify had everything going for him last season as a two-year-old, with debut success at the Curragh, followed by successive Newmarket raids as he pulverized his rivals in both the Superlative Stakes on the July Course and the Dewhurst on the Rowley Mile.

O’Brien, whose impressive Classic haul includes 10,2000 Guineas wins and nine Derbys, has never hidden the appreciation he has for City Of Troy, saying after his Dewhurst success: ‘We’ve never had a horse like him had, that’s how he is. That’s true – he’s the best two-year-old we’ve trained, there’s no doubt about that.”

After a seemingly trouble-free run-up to his three-year-old debut, the crowd gathered around Newmarket’s parade ring to catch a glimpse of the much-vaunted colt before he galloped to the post aiming to become the first odds-on winner. of the 2000 Guineas since Frankel 13 years ago.

But while Frankel lit up the HQ with a performance for the ages, 4-6 shot City Of Troy were unsettled in the starting boxes and although he quickly jumped out to take the early lead, it was clear from halfway that he was struggling to maintain the gallop. and he weakened late to finish ninth of 11.

“He got upset in the stables earlier, which he never did before, then he jumped and Ryan just said the pace was fast and he was in the middle of the pace and he just fell flat on his first run” , O’Brien said.

“We’ll see, it was unusual for him to get upset in the stables because he was very happy before. He was in last place, but he wasn’t supposed to be in last place, that’s just how things worked out.

“There’s no doubt about that (the run was too bad to be true), it wasn’t exaggerated. We’ll take him home and see, sorry about that.

“Of course (I’m shocked), obviously we wouldn’t be here if we thought he would do that. It’s clearly not his run and we’ll see what happened and why it happened.”

While City Of Troy’s dreams of Triple Crown glory have gone up in smoke, O’Brien can take heart from the fact that Auguste Rodin failed to fire as hot favorite for last year’s 2000 Guineas before returning to face Derby -to claim glory at Epsom and the Curragh.

The trainer added: “With him everything was always clear, so we will try to find out what happened and try not to let it happen again, right?”

Richard Hannon admitted to mixed feelings after seeing Rosallion and Haatem finish second and third respectively.

The East Everleigh handler had been optimistic about the prospects of his Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere winner Rosallion ahead of the first Classic of the year and traveled strongly for much of the way before conceding late to the impressive Notable Speech.

Rosallion’s Craven Stakes-winning stablemate Haatem also emerged with high praise in taking the bronze medal.

Hannon said: “Both my horses ran great races. I’m disappointed to be beaten, but you can’t be disappointed with the way they ran.

“Rosallion traveled so well and ran a huge race. I’m not going to lie, when I saw City Of Troy disappear, I thought ‘that’s the main road’.

“I’m disappointed to be beaten, but if he wins now, wherever we go, it might be even sweeter.

“It’s probably one of the best Guineas there has been in the last ten years and both my horses have shown that they are Group 1 horses – one (Rosallion) has won a Group 1 and the other will, so there is a lot to look forward to.”