Report: Crowd will see City Of Troy at pre-Breeders’ Cup gallop
City Of Troy’s last public gallop before traveling to the Breeders’ Cup Classic reportedly will attract 1,500 fans to Southwell Racecourse. They will be there Friday afternoon to see the world’s top-rated turf horse train on a synthetic track for the $7 million dirt race at Del Mar.
“Please note that a single gallop, which will take no more than a few minutes to complete, will take place,” a notice on the Southwell website said. “The exact start time is currently (to be confirmed) between 3 and 4 p.m.” That would be 10-11 a.m. EDT.
Fair odds: See where Ed DeRosa puts City Of Troy.
The crowd may not be the 10,000 or more who poured into Saratoga to see Triple Crown winner American Pharoah gallop the day before he lost the 2015 Grade 1 Travers. But the number has exceeded the expectations of management at Southwell, where admission will be free.
“Certainly more than we were expecting,” clerk of the course John Holliday told Racing Post. “We have 1,200 people booked in already with tickets, and we’re expecting quite a few walk-ups, so it could be nearer 1,500 by the time we get to Friday.”
City Of Troy is a four-time Group 1 winner whose current three-race streak includes the Epsom Derby (G1) on June 1, the Eclipse (G1) on July 6 and the International (G1) on Aug. 21. The 3-year-old Justify colt is training up to the Breeders’ Cup. To help him make the transition from turf to dirt, he is being shipped first from his Coolmore home base in Ireland to train this week on one of only three synthetic tracks in England.
“We want to give him the best chance we can of being at his best for the Classic, and we feel that bringing him away for a day at Southwell will do just that,” trainer Aidan O’Brien told Racing Post.
Ahead of Friday’s one-mile gallop, the horse’s Coolmore ownership team is footing the bill for an American-style starting gate with assistant starters, an equine ambulance, veterinarians and as many as five workmates to be at Southwell, all in hopes of replicating the U.S. experience.
City Of Troy’s 7: 6-0-0 record and US$3,028,555 in purse earnings have come entirely in turf races, including one in Ireland and six in England. In futures betting in Great Britain, he is the 3-1 favorite at Bet365 to win the Nov. 2 Classic.
O’Brien, who has 18 Breeders’ Cup victories, never has won with his 17 previously starters in the Classic. On his first try he finished second with Giant’s Causeway in 2000 and then second again with Henrythenavigator in 2008. O’Brien trained Declaration of War to a third-place finish in 2013. He has not had a starter in the Classic since Mendelssohn came in fifth in 2018.
| Aidan O’Brien in BC Classic | Trk. | Jockey | Odds | Pl. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 Giant’s Causeway | CD | Mick Kinane | 7-1 | 2nd |
| 2001 Galileo | BEL | Mick Kinane | 3-1 | 6th |
| 2001 Black Minnaloushe | BEL | Johnny Murtagh | 51-1 | 10th |
| 2002 Hawk Wing | AP | Mick Kinane | 6-1 | 7th |
| 2003 Hold That Tiger | SA | Édgar Prado | 8-1 | 5th |
| 2005 Oratorio | BEL | Kieren Fallon | 9-1 | 11th |
| 2006 George Washington | CD | Mick Kinane | 9-1 | 6th |
| 2007 George Washington | MTH | Mick Kinane | 9-1 | dnf |
| 2008 Henrythenavigator | OSA* | John Velázquez | 19-1 | 2nd |
| 2008 Duke of Marmalade | OSA* | Johnny Murtagh | 9-1 | 9th |
| 2009 Rip Van Winkle | OSA* | Johnny Murtagh | 3-1 | 10th |
| 2011 So You Think | CD | Ryan Moore | 5-1 | 6th |
| 2013 Declaration of War | SA | Joseph O’Brien | 6-1 | 3rd |
| 2015 Gleneagles | KEE | Ryan Moore | 11-1 | 8th |
| 2017 Churchill | DMR | Ryan Moore | 19-1 | 7th |
| 2017 War Decree | DMR | Seamie Heffernan | 44-1 | 9th |
| 2018 Mendelssohn | CD | Ryan Moore | 13-1 | 5th |
| *Synthetic. All others dirt. |