Ruby Walsh: Slowing down slowly key to City Of Troy’s Classic fate

If the Derby hero can get himself to the first bend level with his rivals, then the rest is up to Ryan Moore to judge 

BREEDERS BOUND: City Of Troy and Rachel Richardson pictured on the dirt track for morning exercise ahead of The Breeders Cup Classic.

I LOVE the draw of international sport and its demands on your usual bedtime routine. Top-level sport anywhere in the world will keep or get me up, whichever it may be, but an Irish angle makes it a must-see for me, and this week is precisely that.

Ireland is taking on the world at the minute, with the Aidan O’Brien army in Del Mar and the Willie Mullins duo in Melbourne. For some reason, which is lost on me, people here bemoan their dominance and success.