Aidan O'Brien says City Of Troy is the best two-year-old he's trained - could he really be Coolmore's Frankel?

City Of Troy's Dewhurst Stakes victory left jaws on the floor and had connections purring. Aidan O'Brien called him the best two-year-old he has ever trained, while Coolmore partner Michael Tabor said he "could be our Frankel." Here, our experts give their view on a colt who seems to have the world at his feet . . .

'He’s not Frankel, but he could be O'Brien's best'

He’s not Frankel, but he could be the best horse Aidan O’Brien has trained. He’s had some great performers in the past like Galileo, Rock Of Gibraltar, Giant’s Causeway and Yeats, but this colt could be super special. He doesn’t blow you away with his style of racing – he almost races behind the bridle slightly – but he is so powerful at the end of the contest and that was again evident at Newmarket.

The question now is, as with all two-year-old champions, whether he can train on at three. His sire Justify didn’t even start racing until he was three, and all US racing fans remember how good he was. On the flip side, City Of Troy’s dam Together Forever didn’t go on from her juvenile Group 1 success in the Fillies’ Mile.
James Hill, tipster

'We are likely talking about the dominant three-year-old force in 2024'

Frankel won the Dewhurst in 2010 on the way to greatness and you cannot blame connections for dreaming big after such an impressive performance by City Of Troy.

City Of Troy and Ryan Moore after their scintillating performance in the DewhurstCredit: Edward Whitaker (racingpost.com/photos)

The Coolmore colt recorded the highest Racing Post Rating of a juvenile in Britain and Ireland this season in the Superlative in July, and the best winning RPR in that race's history, and confirmed his authority in the division with this commanding display from the front. Proving his ability to handle soft ground was a notable plus for next year, and the manner in which he finished the race suggested a mile, and beyond, will be well within his compass.

There is an awful lot to like about this potential superstar, and while Frankel chat may be premature, we are likely talking about the dominant three-year-old force in 2024.
Jack Haynes, reporter

'Wait before anointing him the heir'

City Of Troy certainly looks like superstar material. He looks to have bundles of stamina based on how he finished out both the Superlative and the Dewhurst, which bodes well for races like the Derby and the St Leger, while he looked incredibly balanced racing out of the Dip, which must have delighted his supporters for the 2,000 Guineas.

However, it's still incredibly early days to be talking about him in the same breath as Frankel, particularly given Godolphin's duo Ancient Wisdom and Arabian Crown posted victories by even further on the same card, albeit they didn't beat the same calibre of opposition.

Without wanting to dull the mood, it's always in the interest of Aidan O'Brien and Coolmore to talk up their colts as stallion prospects, so we should probably wait just a little bit longer before anointing City Of Troy the heir to Frankel's throne.
Maddy Playle, reporter

City Of Troy could become O'Brien's Flat champion

It is easy to argue that Aidan O'Brien, the dominant European trainer of the modern era, has not yet trained a truly great Flat champion.

That opinion is supported by both Racing Post Ratings, according to which his best Flat horse has been Hawk Wing (134), and by the official international handicappers, who have named Rock Of Gibraltar (2002) and Hawk Wing (2003) as his only two overall world champions.

Ratings are a much better guide than fame, reputation and popularity when assessing the merit of O'Brien's champions, and the word “great” is bandied about far to freely in the racing world.

Many describe Galileo, on RPRs his joint second-best Flat horse (132), as a great champion. He certainly was at stud, but on the racecourse he was about the same as Fantastic Light and inferior to Sakhee among the top horses of 2001.

Yeats, St Nicholas Abbey and Camelot were high-profile champions whose supporters claim greatness on their behalf, yet they were all awarded RPRs of only 126, placing them outside the trainer's all-time top 20. His current champion, Paddington, is rated 127.

O'Brien's job is to maximise the value of the horses he trains and, brilliant as he is at winning big races with them, he is just as gifted at talking them up afterwards.

The fact remains that he has trained only one indisputably great racehorse – Istabraq, the triple Champion Hurdle winner. But City Of Troy at least has a chance of doubling that number.