Colm Greaves: Would the real City of Troy please stand up?
Jockey Stéphane Pasquier and Calandagan in the King Edward VII. Calandagan should again get the pace he needs. Picture: Tom Dulat/Getty Images for Ascot Racecourse
If the global flat racing season begins in earnest with the staging of the Newmarket Guineas on the first Saturday in May and ends with the Japan Cup on the last Sunday of November then the York festival, which begins Wednesday, lies bang on the half-way mark of the 2024 campaign. And no proper half-time can be without an analysis of what’s just happened and an examination of what might be yet to come.
In truth, the 2024 flat season to date is channelling the same sort of feeling as when the half time whistle was blown in last month’s All-Ireland football final. Torrents of mouth-watering anticipation in the lead up to the game but just the odd flash of brilliance on the field of play. As most teenagers might put it, it’s all been a little bit ‘meh’ so far.
Hopefully, it will be a game of two halves.
The anticipation in the build up to the flat season was based on the expectation that last year’s extraordinary juvenile, City of Troy, would effortlessly mop up Group One races by the bucket load and that his older stablemate Auguste Rodin would add consistency to the episodic excellence that he’d had shown in his career to date. But as always, it’s the hope that kills you and these particular hopes were doused mercilessly early. City of Troy was tailed off in the Guineas and Auguste Rodin finished last of twelve in Dubai at the end of March. Since then, they have both been running like they’re dancing the ‘hokey-cokey’ and sometimes the slow leg is in and the fast leg out.
City of Troy recovered from his Guineas flop when he shook it all about in the Epsom Derby but was unimpressive subsequently when beating the moderately rated four-year-old Al Riffa (112) in his first foray into intergenerational racing at the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown in July.
His jockey, Ryan Moore, blamed himself for the lacklustre performance that day saying that he thought that “he'd win better than that – I thought he'd probably beat them by ten lengths to be honest and I wouldn't be surprised if he does it next time.”
‘Next time’ has arrived at last with Wednesday's Juddmonte International Stakes over ten furlongs. It is an intriguing contest, by far the most interesting of the week, and hopefully it will pave the way for a second half as riveting as Armagh and Galway.
City of Troy (5/4) will face twelve opponents, an untypically large field for this race where the recent average has been five and a half runners and just four showed up last year when Paddington’s bubble was burst by Mostahdaf. Danger lurks wide and deep if the much-hyped son of Justify is to fully re-establish his pre-season reputation and maximise his value as a Coolmore stallion.
Stallion value isn’t an issue for the connections of the second favourite, Calandagan, who was gelded last year on grounds of bad behaviour so nowadays he is ineligible for most Group One races in his native France and should be seen in Britain and Ireland quite a lot from now on. But his unkind cut seems to have focussed his mind on being a racehorse again and he was outstanding when he won the King Edward VII stakes at Royal Ascot by six lengths last time out. His jockey, Stéphane Pasquier, remarked after that win: “He is a fantastic horse. Today he was perfect. The pace was fast enough to come from behind and everything was easy. He can be a naughty boy sometimes and we have to ask him nicely, but today he wanted to do it all and when he is like this, he is a fantastic horse.”
Calandagan should get the pace he needs again and the wide-open galloping track is sure to suit a horse that looks as if he will easily get a mile and a half. With other talented horses such as Bluestocking, Ambient Friendly and Alflaila also in the field, if City of Troy can win this commandingly then his reputation can be safely reset at springtime altitudes.
In addition to the Juddmonte there are two other Group One races at the Knavesmire this week – the Yorkshire Oaks on Thursday and the Nunthorpe for the sprinters on Friday. Like some of the colts many of the fillies and mares have also been performing inconsistently, including Emily Upjohn who looks to have the Oaks at her mercy with the Juddmonte owned Bluestocking switched to the sponsor's race Wednesday. The multiple Group One winning five-year old has failed to win in four starts this year under her new jockey, Kieran Shoemark who took over at the Gosden stable when Frankie Dettori ‘retired.’ Shoemark has attracted some viciously unfair criticism for his earlier rides on Emily and he will have every finger and most of his toes crossed that this time he follows the right horse into the right gap at the right time on Thursday.
The Nunthorpe on Friday is a rematch between the Australian trained Asfoora and the three year-old flying machine that is Big Evs. These two clashed at Glorious Goodwood at the start of the month and Big Evs just about survived the late surge of Asfoora to prevail by an ever shortening short head. This one is a toss of a coin.
Despite the first half inconsistency of many of the big names there have been compensations elsewhere. The early season two-year olds look well up to scratch and as usual some Aidan O’Brien inmates are making the headlines. His fillies, Bedtime Story and Fairy Godmother were exceptional when winning the Chesham and Albany Stakes at Royal Ascot and Henri Matisse and Whistlejacket are colts with serious promise. This week will add important chapters to the juvenile story for the balance of the season.
The Lowther Stakes for fillies on Thursday and the historic Gimcrack Stakes on Friday are both Group Twos, but despite that the most informative signpost to future greatness might be found in the Acomb Stakes on Wednesday afternoon. It looks a two-horse race between Godolphin’s Ruling Court and Coolmore’s The Lion in Winter, both of them having won their only starts impressively and Ruling Court is already favourite for next years 2000 Guineas. If he wins tomorrow and goes on to classic glory the Coolmore syndicate won’t cry too many bitter tears.
Their long term mission with City of Troy is to establish his sire Justify as a breeding shed ‘galactico’ and Justify just happens to be Ruling Court’s daddy too.
The concluding day on Saturday is devoid of any Group One contests but the crowd will pack in to watch Europe’s most lucrative handicap race, The Ebor. As usual the field is laden with future Group race winners still happily competing with tenderly acquired ratings and National Hunt horses seeking to plunder summer bonuses. Two years ago, Trawlerman won this off ninety seven en route to a Group Two triumph over the great Kyprios on Champions Day at Ascot and last year’s winner Absurde took the County Hurdle at the Cheltenham festival last March.
Fourth to Absurde that day was the Henry De Bromhead trained six-year-old mare, Magical Zoe who runs on Saturday off a mark of 102 which gives her a racing weight of nine stone and five pounds. Henry is reportedly disappointed with a new policy from HRI that restricts a small number of National Hunt races to entries from the yards of minor trainers. If Zoe can do the business, it will help cushion the blow and set the second half of the flat season off to a magical start.
