The pass Derby favourite City Of Troy is being given in so many quarters for his lamentable Guineas effort staggers me

In an attempt to get a bit fitter and lose a few pounds, I'm back on the indoor bike and in order to make the hour less painful, I've started listening to the many racing podcasts that are out there. Nearly all of them are enjoyable but sometimes I find myself spitting the dummy out, and in the past couple of weeks the dummy has been flying a good few times.

Let's get things straight to begin with. Of course City Of Troy can win the Derby. He was an exceptional two-year-old but the pass he's being given in so many quarters for his lamentable Guineas effort staggers me. I think I've heard all the excuses going now, the best of them being how hard it is to get horses fit due to the weather this winter. Yes, it's been wet, but if you can't get a horse fit at Ballydoyle you won't be able to anywhere, and Donnacha O'Brien had no trouble getting Porta Fortuna to run a massive race in the 1,000 Guineas.

The next musing is that City Of Troy's run was some sort of grand plan to have him cherry-ripe for the Derby. Seriously, it was the 2,000 Guineas, which is one of the most important races of the whole season. It's a stallion-making race. There is no way City Of Troy was expected to run anything like the way he did and instead of making all these excuses, I think we should listen to the trainer himself, who said that he treated the horse like he was too good and thought he could win the race without City Of Troy being in anything like the right physical or mental shape.