Relief the dominant emotion for vindicated O'Brien after City Of Troy triumph

The master of Ballydoyle in 'no doubt' City Of Troy is the best of his 10 Derby winners

DERBY KING: Trainer Aidan O'Brien celebrates with wife Ann Marie and daughter Ana after City Of Troy and Ryan Moore gave him his 10th Epsom Derby. Picture: Healy Racing

Four of the last six, five of the last eight, eight of the last 13, and a record 10 in all. Aidan O’Brien’s Derby credentials were never in doubt, but those of City Of Troy certainly were prior to Saturday’s scintillating display at Epsom.

O’Brien insisted the colt’s flop in the Newmarket 2000 Guineas was an aberration, primarily of the trainer’s own making, but that self-deprecation doesn’t usually wash in this industry.

In the weeks post-Newmarket, the performance and, increasingly, the words of O’Brien became a hot topic, some suggesting that based on those home reports that the horse must be forgiven, but with most believing it was just the PR machine at work.

When it mattered most, however, the horse delivered, and O’Brien was proven right once again. The draw,  the dreaded stall one, was another complication on the road to redemption but O’Brien and his Coolmore backers had that base covered. Euphoric, with Los Angeles in tow, ensured a strong pace, and that was all that City Of Troy needed.

He was no better than 10th as they raced around Tattenham Corner but once straightening up, he quickened up in tremendous fashion and raced between his stable companions to lead with more than a quarter of a mile to go. Stamina was not an issue and he galloped on powerfully to the line to give O’Brien his record 10th Derby win and Moore his fourth.

“I feel relieved, really,” said O’Brien. “Everybody is entitled to their opinion, totally, and you have to take it on board, but sometimes you don't always agree with it, and you feel like trying to explain things, but all you do is hope that the faith you have in the horse comes true.

"We felt he was the most special horse we had last year, and we minded him with only three runs. I focused hard on him all winter, but I forgot to look under a few stones that we'd never had to look at before, and they were the ones that came and got us.

"They went on the list from now on, but it just goes to show that in horse racing, in sport, in life you never know what's around the corner and what might happen, so you always try to learn from your mistakes. Things crop up that you don't expect to crop up, but when they do, it's another thing for the list.

“We knew that the Guineas went totally wrong,” O’Brien added, reiterating what he has been saying for weeks. “I made mistakes training him and that's the bottom line.

“He was too fresh, he was unprepared, he blew up in the stalls when he went in, that’s just the reality of it. The lads, everybody, we all know the facts and we speak about them all the time, and we learnt from it.

“Since then, everything has been beautiful, and he really grew up. And the beautiful thing is that Ryan said he was very babyish and very green today through the race. But the incredible thing is the cruise that he has and the ability he has. It’s so exciting for everybody.” 

O’Brien’s list of previous winners includes Galileo, Camelot, Australia and last year’s winner, Auguste Rodin, who also won here whilst on a mission of redemption, but when asked if this fellow was the best of all, he did not hesitate.

“I would say no doubt, because he has the cruise, he has the balance, and he quickens, and he stays. I don’t think there is any doubt about that. Listen, he is just an incredible horse.” 

His sire, Justify, an unbeaten US Triple Crown winner in 2018, came in for similarly effusive praise.

“For us, Justify is the most incredible horse we have had. The great stallion we had was Galileo. Justifys are Galileos with more class, which is a very hard thing to say, but we see it every day. The stride, the minds, the movement of them, they are quicker than Galileos, which makes them unbelievably exciting for us.” 

Moore, who won his first Derby aboard Workforce, in 2010, won his first for O’Brien aboard Rule Of The World in 2013, and added this to last year’s victory aboard Auguste Rodin, was characteristically more reserved but nonetheless impressed.

“I haven't seen the replay, but that felt like a good win," he reported. “He took me out very easily and had the race won a fair way out. Then he was a little bit green still in front, the first time he's been around a bend, and obviously a big step up in trip, but he coped with it all very well.

“It was pretty much plain sailing all the way. Beforehand, he was a level above all the horses, and he just had to put it all together, and he did.

“We believed at the end of last year we had a serious horse, and for any horse to come back and win a Derby after winning a Dewhurst, not many can do it.

“He's a very special horse and a very important horse.” 

Turning his attention to the winning trainer, Moore added: “It's his 10th Derby. He's been breaking records for so long now, it's incredible.

"There's no one like him, it's more than just being a genius and attention to detail and dedication. There's a lot more than that.

"Everyone works in this game, but I've never known anyone that works harder than him. It's not all down to just brilliance, it's work as well, and time and effort.”