'We'll work the fastest horses we can' - Aidan O'Brien set to mirror Breeders' Cup test for City Of Troy in key Southwell workout

A strenuous Southwell workout is on the agenda for City Of Troy this month when Aidan O'Brien is keen to replicate the early intensity of the Breeders' Cup Classic by having some of the fastest horses he can find go flat out over a mile. 

O'Brien revealed further details about the crucial gallop on September 20 as City Of Troy works towards his date with destiny in the Classic at Del Mar on November 2, a race which Ballydoyle's master trainer has yet to conquer.

City Of Troy is now clear favourite for the Classic, a standout 7-2 with bet365 and as short as 5-2 with a few firms, but O'Brien is under no illusions about the magnitude of the task facing his superstar colt who is bidding to end his racing career with a fairytale final chapter on dirt. 

When asked if winning the Classic would be the pinnacle of his career, O'Brien replied: "We’ve never won it. We’ve tried very hard, a lot of times, for 25 years, but we've yet to win it. It’s a very difficult race to win. You’re going to a different world, a different culture, a different track, a different surface. Everything is different and it’s very tough. For one of our horses to win, he has to be a lot better than the opposition over there. 

City Of Troy is put through his paces by Rachel Richardson at Ballydoyle on Monday morningCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

"It’s one of those races you don’t even dream about because it’s so difficult, but you try and you hope. Every year you tweak things and look for different horses and different ways of doing it. You look under every stone you can look under and then hopefully you’ve looked under enough of them. You saw what happened in the Guineas this year, the one stone I didn't look under came and got us."

O'Brien's determination to prepare City Of Troy to perfection takes him to Nottinghamshire this month, with speedy stablemates, a fast pace and American stalls all part of the plan.

"He’ll go a mile with probably four or five other horses, and we’ll go a strong, fast pace for a mile and see what will happen," O'Brien said. 

"He’ll work out of American stalls, so we’ll have it as close as we can. Obviously, we won’t have the surface but that’s not a bad thing because it’s a little bit of a step in between grass and dirt rather than a big jump straight away.

"We've tweaked things. The surface is a little bit different again, and it’s a little bit why we didn’t go to Leopardstown [for the Irish Champion Stakes] this time. If we went there, we might use up that run, and that’s why we thought we might go to Southwell instead. We went with Giant’s Causeway and we got beaten, so we have to tweak a little bit and maybe leaving him a shade fresher will work. That’s what we’re hoping."

City Of Troy beats Calandagan in the Juddmonte InternationalCredit: Edward Whitaker

He added: "We’ll work the fastest horses we can. We’ll go very hard in the first half of the race, and I don’t know what is going to happen after that. No horse we’ve ever sent to Southwell has ever worked well. They all just about finish with the lead horse, and maybe it will be the same, I don’t know, but it will be interesting.

"Ryan [Moore] said there’s not much kickback in Southwell. In America we would prefer to stay out of kickback. My experience of kickback is that you don’t ever get used to it, and I don’t think any horse enjoys kickback."

City Of Troy made every yard of the running in the Juddmonte International, but O'Brien said racegoers could expect to see an even more aggressive version at Del Mar.

O'Brien said: "He was aggressive the last day but will be more aggressive the next day. We didn’t want to do that until very late because of what happened in the Guineas. Ryan went forward but went forward with controlled aggression, but I know the next day he’ll hit them gates and he’ll want to go."

O'Brien reports the explosive son of Justify to have taken that York assignment in his stride and the performance, which earned him a career-best Racing Post Rating of 129, appears to have taken little out of him.

He added: "He took York very well. He didn't even blow. He never really got into full tempo. He's a hardy customer. He's not for kids. He will maul you. He's very unusual and he's not simple. 

"He has a lot of Justify in him and he has a lot of Galileo in him as well, none of those are wimps. If you're restricting him, he'll make you suffer.

“You’d imagine the faster they go, the better it will suit him, but our fast is a little bit different to American fast. It will be interesting, and we’ll watch with great interest like everyone else."

Breeders’ Cup Classic (Del Mar, November 2):
bet365:  7-2 City Of Troy, 6 Fierceness, 7 Forever Young, 10 Muth, 12 Sierra Leone, Highland Falls 14 Thorpedo Anna, 16 bar. 

A morning at Ballydoyle in pictures

Our award-winning photographer Patrick McCann was out early at Ballydoyle on Monday morning. Here are the best of his snaps . . .

Perfect harmony: first lot prepares to head out on trackCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

St Leger hope Illinois relaxes after working at second lotCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Aidan O'Brien hard at work with his early-morning workersCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Nothing escapes the watchful eye of Aidan O'BrienCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Aidan O'Brien with Luxembourg (Pa Murphy) and Auguste Rodin (Rachel Richadson)Credit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Kyprios (Dean Gallagher) at second lotCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

River Tiber has a pick of grassCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Auguste Rodin leads first lot at Ballydoyle on Monday morningCredit: Patrick McCann (racingpost.com/photos)

Read these next:

'Auguste Rodin's last piece of work was excellent; it was different, he showed a lot of zest in it' - Aidan O'Brien 

'Take the 20-1 about this filly' - David Jennings' five key takeaways from a visit to Ballydoyle 

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