Aidan O’Brien Eyes Breeders’ Cup Glory with City of Troy’s Del Mar Debut
All eyes are on Aidan O’Brien and his star colt City of Troy as he prepares to make his eagerly awaited debut on dirt at Del Mar for the prestigious Breeders’ Cup Classic. The Irish maestro, sporting his trademark sunglasses and an American Pharoah baseball cap, was spotted trackside as City of Troy stretched his legs for the first time on the California dirt.
City of Troy, a champion on turf in Europe, is stepping onto unfamiliar ground in the Breeders’ Cup Classic. His pedigree, however, oozes promise. By Triple Crown winner Justify and out of a Galileo mare, he boasts a lineage rich with dirt success. O’Brien shares his unwavering belief in his star pupil.
“This is the dream we had when we got Justify, to have a horse that can run on both grass and dirt,” O’Brien said. “We think City has a lot of his qualities and obviously he’s out of a great Galileo mare. This is the most fierce race that any thoroughbred can be tested in.”
The draw in three for the Classic presents both opportunity and challenge. While seemingly favorable on paper, an outside draw could see American rivals like Fierceness get a jump on City of Troy. O’Brien, however, is confident in his tactics and Ryan Moore’s experience.
“We think we’ve done everything we can, he went to York and went forward, he went to Southwell and the pace was much stronger than it was at York,” O’Brien remarked. “Everything is done. We think we have looked under every stone we can but obviously a day at the races what happens is there’s sometimes a stone we didn’t look under. We think we’ve done as much as we can, we will see what happens and Ryan can make his own mind up.”
The countdown is on to the Breeders’ Cup Classic, with four days to go until the race of the year. City of Troy’s every move on the track will be scrutinized, as the world anticipates the showdown between this promising young colt and the best horses in America.
Whether City of Troy can conquer the dirt and claim Breeders’ Cup glory remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: this is a race that will go down in history.
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