From Giant's Causeway to Mendelssohn: the story of Aidan O'Brien's 24 years of hurt in the Breeders' Cup Classic

City Of Troy bids to add an elusive Breeders’ Cup Classic win to Aidan O’Brien’s remarkable CV on Saturday. Here we look back at the Ballydoyle horses who have tried and failed to land the world-renowned race since the turn of the century . . .

2000-2003: Causeway goes close at first attempt

Giant’s Causeway was a first runner for O’Brien in the Classic at Churchill Downs in 2000 and came out on the wrong side of an epic head-to-head battle with Tiznow in the home straight.

Mick Kinane’s mount arrived on the back of a stellar three-year-old campaign in which he racked up five Group 1s but could never quite nose in front of Tiznow on his first and only start on dirt. He was beaten just a neck.

Giant's Causeway (left) is denied by Tiznow in the Classic at Churchill Downs in 2000

He never raced again and Tiznow followed up the next year when beating Sakhee by a nose at Belmont, a race in which O’Brien saddled two runners including Derby, Irish Derby and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth winner Galileo. He was sent off the 10-3 second favourite but never figured in a well-beaten sixth.

The 2,000 Guineas and Derby second and Eclipse winner Hawk Wing is O’Brien’s top-rated Flat horse on Racing Post Ratings and tried his luck in 2002 but missed the break at Arlington and made no impression in seventh behind Volponi.

Peruvian jockey Edgar Prado rode Hold That Tiger in the 2003 running at Santa Anita. He had failed to win at three but was sent off a 5-1 shot on the back of his second in the Woodward Stakes at Belmont under Prado the previous month. He could only manage fifth in the Classic.

2005-2009: Washington heartbreak and favourite fails to fire

Oratorio was Kieren Fallon’s sole mount for O’Brien in the Classic but the Eclipse and Irish Champion Stakes scorer beat only two rivals at Belmont in 2005.

George Washington proved a low point in O’Brien’s Classic history. The 2,000 Guineas winner was a fancied 4-1 hope as a three-year-old at Churchill Downs in 2006 and travelled notably well into the home straight before weakening after catching a bump when switched to make his challenge.

That was expected to be his final start but he returned the following summer after having fertility issues at stud. He was beaten in three starts at four before having a second tilt at the Classic at Monmouth Park – but the race was marred by his death after fracturing the cannonbone in his right front fetlock joint as well as both sesamoids.

Henrythenavigator was O’Brien’s last horse to finish second in the Classic. John Velazquez’s mount was beaten a length and three quarters by the Frankie Dettori-ridden and John Gosden-trained Raven’s Pass at Santa Anita in 2008. He was the last European winner of the race. Duke Of Marmalade, a five-time Group 1 winner that year, was sent off a shorter price than stablemate Henrythenavigator but weakened into ninth.

Rip Van Winkle was the sole outright favourite among O’Brien’s 17 runners in the Classic when sent off the 2-1 market leader at Santa Anita in 2009. The Sussex Stakes and QEII winner had a foot problem resurface in the lead-up to the race, with his participation in doubt during the week, and he did not perform at his peak, finishing 17 lengths behind Zenyatta in tenth.

2011-2018: War narrowly denied in thrilling three-way finish

So You Think, a dual Cox Plate winner and Melbourne Cup third for Bart Cummings in Australia, joined O’Brien in 2011 and added three European Group 1s to his CV before starting the Classic that year as a 4-1 co-favourite of three at Churchill Downs.

The market leaders failed to live up to expectations, however, finishing fourth, fifth, and in So You Think’s case, sixth behind 20-1 scorer Drosselmeyer.

Declaration Of War (centre): was narrowly denied at Santa Anita in 2013Credit: Harry How

Declaration Of War came closest to providing O’Brien with a Classic breakthrough at Santa Anita in 2013 – despite not even finishing second.

The Queen Anne and Juddmonte International winner was ridden by Aidan’s son Joseph and was beaten just a nose and a head in a driving finish and thrilling spectacle. Mucho Macho Man was the narrow winner.

O’Brien’s subsequent four runners have failed to trouble the principals. Gleneagles never got going at Keeneland in 2015 and finished last of eight behind American Pharoah, Churchill and War Decree were only seventh and ninth in the 2017 Del Mar running won by Gun Runner, and Mendelssohn, the trainer’s most recent Classic runner in 2018, was headed over a furlong out when fifth to Accelerate at Churchill Downs.

It is now over to City Of Troy.

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City Of Troy: big-race favourite for the ClassicCredit: Edward Whitaker

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