Tag Archive for: coral eclipse

Monday Musings: Sue And The City

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You say it quickly and it does seem a little unusual, writes Tony Stafford. But it’s only when you put it in perspective - that it was Mrs Susan Magnier’s first visit to a UK racecourse for twelve years on Saturday at Sandown - you appreciate how remarkable it was.

Then you begin to understand how City Of Troy is regarded among the Ballydoyle owners, his trainer and jockey Ryan Moore He’s not merely another star racehorse. He’s something apart, everyone involved in his development believing from very early days on the home gallops that he is unique.

I can’t remember whether Vincent O’Brien’s daughter attended any of the 2012 Classic races. That was a memorable year with victories in the first four. Indeed, the clean sweep was only denied them when Enke – he of the failed dope test the following year which found steroids in his system when under the shamed Mahmood Al Zarooni’s care – denied Camelot the Triple Crown.

No doubt the very young Susan O’Brien/Magnier would have lived every minute of the last Triple Crown, her father’s horse Nijinsky coming over in 1970 to achieve the extraordinary feat - the first for 35 years since Bahram in 1935.

A named co-owner (rather than husband John) in almost all the earlier and subsequent triumphs for the non-related Aidan O’Brien team of Coolmore partners, it’s amazing to appreciate just how many major wins she had absented herself from before Saturday.

If we start with the Classic wins. From 2013 onwards, she, with Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith mostly, has won the 2000 Guineas three times, the 1000 Guineas five times, the Derby seven times, the Oaks six times and the St Leger four times; that’s 25 in all, never mind that 2012 quartet.

If we descend into all races, Aidan has sent over since 2013 around 1500 runners for a little more than 200 wins and prize money of £60 million The poverty of UK prizemoney in relation to that of other leading racing authorities is best shown by the last figure.

There’s no question that City Of Troy is the one horse racing today that would command the sort of money that football clubs pay for the best players. His value, like them, potentially soars above £120 million to my mind. Unlike footballers, though, stallion owners can get their money’s worth.

Some racehorses of recent times, especially Galileo, the principal equine power base behind the consistently astonishing Coolmore/O’Brien success of the past 20 years, have commanded stud fees reputedly close to £500k. When Coolmore list one of their stallions as “private”, just being able to inveigle a mare into his breeding shed has needed something of that dimension and the promise not to reveal how much has been paid for the privilege.

Multiply that by a conservative 125 or so mares covered each year; factor in a two or three-year span to retrieve all the money and you get the Coolmore formula – one pursued, usually in vain, by their imitators.

City Of Troy, while not a son of Galileo, does have Galileo on the dam side, through his mother Together Forever, a Group 1 winner at age two, and one of the many mares by their champion looking for worthy mates to keep the pot boiling at the highest level.

Step up (and he already has) Justify, one of two recent Triple Crown winners, both now operating from Coolmore’s Ashford stud in Kentucky.

City Of Troy has done enough to deserve to stand where Galileo did for so many illustrious years. Unbeaten and the European champion at two, he won the Derby impressively after that Guineas aberration, then on Saturday he beat his elders in the Coral-Eclipse, the first meaningful Group 1 battle between the generations of the 2024 season.

As in the UK, to illustrate how difficult that achievement has been, Justify, and American Pharoah a few years earlier, were also pathfinders after a 37-year gap since Affirmed won the 1978 Kentucky Derby, Preakness and Belmont Stakes in the tough five-week schedule that series entails.

For a UK horse to win our Triple Crown, I suggest an even more difficult trifecta: he has to be quick and ready enough to land the 2000 Guineas at a mile in early May; stay 14 and a bit furlongs on the daunting Doncaster circuit in September; and in between have the adaptability to come home first around the difficult Epsom 12 furlongs with its gradients and cambers in the first week of June.

I think time will tell us that Sheikh Mohammed’s remarkable mare Oh So Sharp, the last filly to complete the female Triple Crown in 1985, with 1000 Guineas, Oaks and St Leger, deserves much more attention than is generally afforded her.

The first element inexplicably eluded the team, Ryan Moore coming back visibly shocked at the unexpected reverse on Newmarket’s Rowley Mile. Yet so quickly does the racing year evolve that within two months we’ve already seen his rehabilitation – back almost to the sublime domination of his generation as a two-year-old – in the Derby and then the victory in the Coral-Eclipse Stakes at Sandown on Saturday.

Justify’s win over 12 furlongs on the US’s biggest oval, Belmont Park, where he completed the set in the Belmont Stakes, offered promise that his progeny would stay at least middle distances, without compromising the speed which won the two shorter distance Triple Crown races.

Had City Of Troy won the 2000 Guineas, he may well have missed Sandown, and gone instead to the Irish Derby and would now be gearing up for the St Leger. The combative John Magnier and friends, though, are always out to stretch the boundaries. After Sandown, presumably it’s the Juddmonte at York and if the Irish Champion Stakes is not then on his agenda, it seems that even the Breeders’ Cup Classic on dirt could be. Then again, maybe both.

There was no sign of weakening – quite the reverse – from City Of Troy in the Derby, and then when all looked potentially to be going wrong in the Eclipse, the will to win from horse and rider Ryan Moore, kept the opposition at bay.

A couple of incidents stayed in my mind from before the race. One of the closest inside the group said that after all the rain that had fallen on Sandown, had it been his decision to make, he would have pulled City Of Troy from the race. Two trainers, Brian Meehan and Hughie Morrison, did withdraw their runners on concerns about the going.

Next, standing quite close in the pre-parade paddock,while Aidan was, as he prefers, saddling his horse in the open in the middle of the paddock rather than in a saddling box, I remarked to a friend, “see how calm and placid he is,” at which exact moment his left hind leg flashed back and only Aidan’s nimbleness enabled him to evade it. Three or four further attempts to clean out his trainer were also unsuccessful and then it was on to the main paddock and a host of people anxious to see the superstar.

In the race, Wayne Lordan made the running on stable pacemaker Hans Andersen and, while Ryan was happy enough to follow him, Ghostwriter eased up on his inside as they reached the end of the back straight. Then around the home bend, any idea of serenity for the rider was eroding as City Of Troy seemed momentarily to lose his footing and he had a length quickly to retrieve on his opponent.

Up the straight, though, he gradually mastered Jeff Smith/ Clive Cox’s smart performer, but then had a more serious rival to deal with. The Joseph O’Brien four-year-old Al Riffa had sat last of all but came with the final challenge and one that from the stands looked likely to prove decisive.

I wondered afterwards whether Sue Magnier might have been looking on momentarily in horror, reliving the day when brother David with Secreto beat her father’s hot favourite El Gran Senor in the Derby of 1984. Here, though, City Of Troy’s battling qualities eliminated such horrors, kicking in and he had the race won by a full length.

When asked what had he expected beforehand, Ryan Moore answered, “I thought he’d win by ten lengths.” I’m sure Sue Magnier did too, but now everyone knows that for all the brilliance, there’s also a dogged will not to be beaten in that remarkable DNA. Roll on York!

In case you wondered, yes, I did get another chance to press the flesh. His lad kindly waited a few seconds as I got into position and this time, unlike at Epsom, his coat was a little wet to the touch. Maybe the Eclipse got to him rather more than the Derby did - and no wonder!

- TS

Al Riffa Arc-bound after admirable second in Coral-Eclipse

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Joseph O’Brien is targeting the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe with Al Riffa after momentarily threatening to spoil his father’s party in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown.

A Group One winner at two, the son of Wootton Bassett has proved a consistent performer over the years and having bounced out of a recent trip to America in top form, was routed to Esher by connections to take on the might of City Of Troy.

With a furlong to run, the momentum belonged to the four-year-old as Dylan Browne McMonagle in the saddle asked his mount for every ounce of effort available.

Although briefly threatening to move upsides Aidan O’Brien’s Derby hero inside the closing furlong, Al Riffa was ultimately unable to bridge the one-length advantage City Of Troy held at the finish.

His Owning Hill handler was delighted with the performance and his campaign will now be geared around a step up in trip and a tilt at Europe’s richest middle-distance prize at ParisLongchamp in early October.

O’Brien said: “I think we all thought for a moment he was going to make it interesting and he did. I’m very proud of him.

“It was a fantastic run from a top horse and it is the first time he has had a bit of juice in the ground since the National Stakes (in 2022).

“We’ll probably make the rest of the season all about the Arc, which will be his main target.

“We came here a bit soon after America. Things didn’t go our way in America but it was worth a chance and we decided to come here from there and in fairness to the horse we have kind of rushed him back a little bit.

“He’s vindicated the decision to run and we won’t rush him now, we will prepare for the Arc.

“He should enjoy the mile and a half as his family is all stamina. It looked like mile and a half will suit him on his run today. He hasn’t tried a mile and a half yet but I think he will be better.”

It was Clive Cox’s Ghostwriter who first broke cover to duel with City Of Troy and after running with credit on testing ground in the French Derby before this, his handler is yet again desperate to see the son of Invincible Spirit on a sounder surface.

Ghostwriter winning at Newmarket as a two-year-old
Ghostwriter winning at Newmarket as a two-year-old (Tim Goode/PA)

Cox said: “I am over the moon. It was a tremendous performance bar being beat and he has run with full credit. We are all very proud of him and he has tried very hard.

“We would appreciate slightly drier ground but I am not making any excuses as he has still run a very solid race.

“I think a mile and a quarter is a perfect for him and Richard (Kingscote) agrees. He is in the Juddmonte and that is a track (York) that I think he would enjoy.”

Magnier relieved as City Of Troy’s renaissance continues

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The time for talking is done. That was the message from John Magnier after City Of Troy took another step closer to confirming himself as the greatest to don his famous dark blue silks in the Coral-Eclipse.

Earmarked for superstardom from the day he carted Ryan Moore on a lap of the Curragh post winning his maiden, his team have never been shy in proclaiming the son of American Triple Crown hero Justify as one of the best to ever step through the gates of Ballydoyle.

With all of his owners in attendance, including Magnier, who was making a rare visit to Sandown accompanied by his wife Sue, City Of Troy was expected to deliver in style.

However, on the most testing ground he has encountered in his career, he showed a different champion quality, the ability to get in the dirt and grind it out.

It was an admirable victory , if not the exuberant victory many have come to expect, and Magnier now believes it is now time for the horse to walk the walk and dazzle his many admirers for the rest of the season.

He said: “It wasn’t what we were expecting to be honest and we’re not making excuses – you don’t need to when the horse wins the race.

“But a quarter of the field was taken out because of the ground and he really is a good-moving horse. It’s quite extraordinary how this horse moves.

“There is no point us talking about this horse any more. We only look foolish and after the 2000 Guineas we were really in the mess.

“This horse now has to do it himself – it’s like his clothes are off and he’s in the bed, it’s up to him.

“The year is long and we would just like to see him run on his ground. He’s only been beaten once in his life and we’re here complaining, so that will tell you what we think of him.”

City Of Troy’s trainer has never taken one of his record number of Derby winners to Sandown for Eclipse before.

For all Sea The Stars and Golden Horn have done the Epsom-Sandown double in the 21st century, connections know full well the race has the capacity to chew up and spit out those who flourished on the Surrey Downs – just ask Authorized and Motivator.

However, this race became the obvious place for City Of Troy after proving more wooden horse than wonder horse in the 2000 guineas.

Aidan O’Brien and John Magnier (left) were both delighted to see City Of Troy win at Sandown
Aidan O’Brien and John Magnier (left) were both delighted to see City Of Troy win at Sandown (Damien Eagers/PA)

“It was important to come here especially after he didn’t do so well in the Guineas,” added Magnier.

“It showed he doesn’t have to be a mile-and-a-half horse. If he had won the Guineas we may have been going to the St Leger and down that route.

“We had to see where he fit in with the other horses and we were lucky that we also had some other horses for the Irish Derby, so it was easy to split them up.”

It was the master of Ballydoyle who re-laid City Of Troy’s foundations, resulting in an imperious Derby redemption act for the ages.

However, those closest to the colt never lost the belief – those who have the privilege of watching him at close quarters on a daily basis.

“It emanates from Aidan and Ballydoyle and what they they think of this horse and what they see in the morning,” continued Magnier when answering why connections speak so fondly of their all-conquering three-year-old.

“I’ve been there and watching him work and we’ve seen the times he can do without being asked. He’s just a natural horse and has been from the word go and usually pulling him up has been the biggest job with him.

“I don’t know what happened in the 2000 Guineas, it was just one of those things but we then saw what he did in the Derby and then again today.

“I enjoyed it today and luckily it was a Wootton Bassett (Al Riffa) that was taking him on so it was a little each-way!”

City Of Troy storms by the winning post at Sandown
City Of Troy storms by the winning post at Sandown (Steven Paston for the Jockey Club/PA)

After a visit to York or Leopardstown in the coming months, the final question for City Of Troy to answer is whether he could he emulate his father and triumph on dirt.

It is a question Magnier is looking to the heavens for guidance on, but it seems likely he will be headed to Del Mar looking to achieve what some of the Coolmore greats have never managed before.

“Only God knows,” said Magnier when asked about City Of Troy’s credentials for the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

“I can’t answer that. We have tried it on several occasions – we tried it with Galileo and it didn’t work and we tried it with Giant’s Causeway and it nearly did and then we hit the crossbar with Declaration Of War.

“We all enjoy having a go and seeing if we can do something out of the ordinary. Whatever happens we will keep trying to do it.”

City Of Troy delivers workmanlike win in the Coral-Eclipse

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City Of Troy defied the testing ground at Sandown to produce a hard-fought victory in the Coral-Eclipse.

The Derby winner, who bounced back at Epsom having failed to land a blow in the 2000 Guineas, was the 1-4 favourite under Ryan Moore.

For trainer Aidan O’Brien he stalked along in the slipstream of stablemate Hans Andersen, but when asked to quicken he did not produce the turn of foot perhaps expected.

He still took up the lead, however, and was able to hold off a late challenge from 11-1 shot Al Riffa to triumph by a length with Ghostwriter five and a half lengths behind in third.

It proved a nervy watch for the master of Ballydoyle, who revealed after the race that the testing ground in Esher gave connections plenty of anxiety.

The Coral Summer Festival – Coral Eclipse Day – Sandown Park
City Of Troy taking up the lead at Sandown (Zac Goodwin/PA)

“We were very worried about the ground, we walked it before and it was very soft and tough deep ground, softer than it was in the Dewhurst,” he said.

“He was pitched into unknown territory today and I remember before the Dewhurst we were very worried and took the chance but to walk it today, it was deeper, way deeper.

“It is always tough to watch because the difference between winning and not winning can be massive and I’m delighted for everyone.

“In all fairness to the lads, 15 years ago they would have taken him out, they wouldn’t have run him, but we’re so lucky they enjoy their racing so much now that they wanted to be here and they wanted to run him.

“To walk it I was very afraid, but the lads made the right decision – it was a long discussion.”

O’Brien felt the victory came in spite of the going, which would not be the obvious surface for a horse with an American dirt champion for a sire.

The trainer said: “He’s a beautiful good ground horse, a real fast ground mover and he has won despite the ground. It would have been easy to take him out but the lads all came and they wanted to run him. It was tough because that is specialist ground and it didn’t go to plan because of the whole thing.

The Coral Summer Festival – Coral Eclipse Day – Sandown Park
City Of Troy returning to the paddock (Zac Goodwin/PA)

“He won quite well in the end. Dylan (Browne McMonagle, on Al Riffa) said coming in that he had him and then he went again. He said he thought he had him, but he was always maintaining.”

City Of Troy was unchanged in the market for the Juddmonte International and the Breeders’ Cup Classic with bookmakers Paddy Power and Betfair, whereas William Hill eased him from 6-4 to 2-1 for the former race and from 6-1 to 8-1 for the latter.

On future plans, O’Brien said: “I don’t know what the lads will do but I would imagine they will have a look at either the Juddmonte International Stakes (at York) or the Irish Champion Stakes.

“After that we will maybe look at America. Everything about him is good ground or better. I would imagine he could finish off in America in the Classic. That is what he is bred to be, his dad was a dirt horse.”

Moore admitted he had expected the win to be more convincing and pointed to the going to echo O’Brien’s assessment of the race.

He said: “I suppose in reality everyone was expecting him to win and probably be more impressive, and so was I. But the ground was an inconvenience for him.

The Coral Summer Festival – Coral Eclipse Day – Sandown Park
City Of Troy and jockey Ryan Moore (Steven Paston/PA)

“I was happy enough with where I was but halfway round the bend the ground was a little bit loose and he just lost his action for a stride.

“Ghostwriter took a length out of me and I wasn’t going as comfortably as I should have been, it just took me a while to organise him.

“I got to the two furlong marker and I had to go and I thought he did well because I wasn’t really happy up until then. He found plenty and it never really felt like he was going to get beat.

“I still think we are learning about him and I thought the ground was an inconvenience so I’m happy he has won but I do think there is more there. I thought he would probably beat them by 10 lengths today and I wouldn’t be surprised if he does it next time.

“These conditions are not what he wants, he has an extravagant action and slow ground into a headwind is not easy. I think he will be better in a higher-tempo race.”

On the Breeders’ Cup Classic, Moore added: “I’ve never ridden a Breeders’ Cup Classic horse so I don’t know what that takes. I think this horse has the engine and the ability but we have to work out if he has the right action for it.”

Sat TV Trends: 6th July 2024

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The ITV cameras head to Sandown and Haydock on Saturday 6th July with the Coral-Eclipse, plus the Lancashire Oaks and Old Newton Cup the clear highlights – as always, here at Geegeez we've got all the TV races covered from a trends angle.

Sandown Horse Racing Trends (RacingTV/ITV)

1.50 - Coral Charge (Registered as The Sprint Stakes) (Group 3) Cl1 5f6y ITV

21/22 – Had raced within the last 4 weeks
20/22 – Returned 7/1 or shorter in the betting
16/22 – Favourites placed
17/22 – Had won at least 3 times before
15/22 – Came from the top 3 in the betting
15/22 – Finished in the top 4 last time out
14/22 – Aged 3 or 4 years-old
8/22 – Winning favourites
7/22 – Had won at Sandown before
8/22 – Won last time out
5/22 – Ran at Ascot last time out
10 of the last 18 winners were Irish bred
13 of the last 18 winners came from stalls 1-4 (inc)
Equality (7/1) won the race in 2023
Raasel (5/2) won the race in 2022

2.25 – Coral Challenge (Handicap) Cl2 1m14y ITV

21/22 – Aged 6 or younger
20/22 – Carried 8-8 or more
20/22 – Previous winners over 1m (or further)
19/22 – Had 2 or more runs already that season
18/22 – Didn’t win their previous race
16/22 – Placed favourites
13/22 – Had run at Sandown before
12/22 – Aged 4 years-old
11/22 – Ran at either York (2) or Ascot (9) last time out
8/22 – Returned a double-figure price in the betting
7/22 – Winning favourites
2/22 – Trained by Andrew Balding
2/22 - Trained by William Haggas (won 2 of the last 5 runnings)
14 of the last 18 winners came from stall 8 or lower
Perotto (5/1 jfav) won the race in 2023

3.00 – Coral Distaff (Listed Race) (Fillies) Cl1 1m14y ITV

19/20 – Had at least 1 previous run that season
18/20 – Had never run at Sandown before
17/20 – Had won over 7f or further before
16/20 – Returned 9/1 or shorter in the betting
12/20 – Favourites that finished in the top three
11/20 – Finished in the top three last time out
5/20 – Winning favourites
4/20 – Trained by Sir Michael Stoute
4/20 – Ridden by Ryan Moore
2/20 - Trained by William Haggas (3 of last 5)
2/20 - Trained by Andrew Balding (2 of last 8)
16 of the last 17 winners came from stalls 3-9 (inc)
10 of the last 17 winners came from stalls 3,4,5 or 6

3.35 – Coral-Eclipse (British Champions Series) (Group 1) Cl1 1m2f7y ITV

22/22 – Won by a horse aged 5 or younger
18/22 – Had at least 2 runs already that season
18/22 – Won by a previous Group One winner
17/22 – Placed favourites
17/22 – Placed in their last race
15/22 – Raced between 2 and 3 times that season
12/22 – Raced at Royal Ascot last time out (four won there)
10/22 – Favourites that won
7/22 – Won by an Irish-trained horse
6/22 – Trained by Aidan O’Brien
5/22 – Raced in the Epsom Derby that season
4/22 – Trained by John Gosden (4 of last 11)
9 of the last 17 winners won last time out
2 of the last 15 Epsom Derby winners of that season went onto win the race
The last 6 year-old to win the race was in 1886
16 of out the last 19 winners had run in the previous 30 days
15 out of the last 19 winners were Group 1 winners
18 of the last 19 winners came from the first four in the betting
16 out of the last 19 winners had won over 1m 2f or further
The average winning SP in the last 22 runnings is 4/1

Other Eclipse Stakes Trainer Facts
Aidan O’Brien won the race in 2023, 2021, 2011, 2008, 2005, 2002 & 2000
Sir Michael Stoute won the race in 2007, 2001, 1997, 1994, 1993 & 2017
Godolphin-owned horses have won the race in 2004, 1998, 1996, 1995, 2016 & 2020
Trainer John Gosden has won 4 of the last 11 runnings (2012, 2015, 2018 & 2019)

Haydock Horse Racing Trends (RacingTV/ITV)

2.05 - bet365 Handicap Cl2 1m6f95y ITV

7 previous runnings
7/7 - Returned 6/1 or shorter in the betting
6/7 - Drawn between stalls 4-9 (inc)
6/7 – Won between 1-2 times
6/7 – Yet to win over 1m6f
6/7 - Returned 9/2 or shorter in the betting
5/7 – Rated between 80-87
5/7 – Didn’t win last race
4/7 - Carried 8-13 or more in weight
4/7 – Finished 1st or 2nd in last race
4/7 – Placed favourites
3/7 – Had run at Haydock before (2 winners)
3/7 – Ran at Goodwood last time out
3/7 - Winning favourites
3/7 – Won by a claiming jockey
William Haggas trained the winner in 2020, 2022 and 2024
The Johnston yard trained the winner in 2018 and 2019
John Gosden trained the winner in 2017

2.40 – bet365 Lancashire Oaks (Group 2) (Fillies & Mares) Cl1 1m3f200y ITV

19/22 – Had won at least at Listed class before
19/22 – Placed in the top 3 last time out
19/22 – Aged 3 or 4 years-old
17/22 – Priced 13/2 or shorter in the betting
17/22 – Came from the top 3 in the betting
16/22 – Placed favourites
15/22 – Had won between 1-3 times before
13/22 – Had raced within the last 6 weeks
12/22 – Won last time out
12/22 – Had won over 1m4f before
8/22 – Trained by John Gosden
7/22 – Winning favourites
7/22 – Had raced at Haydock before
3/22 – Raced at Ascot last time out
Poptronic (12/1) won the race in 2023
The last 11 runnings have been won by a 4 year-old
Note: The 2007 renewal was staged at Newmarket

3.15 – bet365 Old Newton Cup (Heritage Handicap) Cl2 1m3f200y ITV

20/22 – Had won a race over 1m4f before
16/22 – Aged 5 or younger
16/22 – Won no more than 5 times before
16/22 – Drawn in stall 13 or lower
15/22 – Had won at least 3 times before
14/22 – Carried 9-1 or less
14/22 – Officially rated between 89 and 97
13/22 – Favourites placed in the top 4
12/22 – Aged 4 years-old
11/22 – Irish or USA bred
11/22 – Carried 8-12 or less
10/22 – Raced within the last 7 days
8/22 – Winners that came from the top 3 in the betting
8/22 – Placed horses (top three) from stall 4
7/22 – Raced at Ascot last time out
6/22 – Had won a race at Haydock before
6/22 – Won last time out
3/22 – Trained by the Johnston yard
2/22 – Trained by Clive Cox
2/22 – Trained by Marco Botti
2/22 – Winning favourites (1 joint)
The average winning SP in the last 22 years is 10/1

 

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Total Eclipse by St Mark’s has special place in O’Brien’s affections

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No one has won the Coral-Eclipse more than Aidan O’Brien, with seven victories already on his ever-expanding record of achievement.

With the likes of Giant’s Causeway, Hawk Wing, So You Think and Paddington on the Ballydoyle winner’s list, it is exalted company.

However, O’Brien feels St Mark’s Basilica’s 2021 success over Addeybb – a triple Australian Group One winner and Champion Stakes victor – and Mishriff – a French Derby, Sheema Classic and Juddmonte International scorer – puts him right up there.

“I suppose St Mark’s Basilica was very impressive, I thought,” said O’Brien when the question was posed of his best Eclipse winner ahead of City Of Troy’s run at Sandown this weekend.

“I remember going there that there were two very impressive older horses in the race (Mishriff and Addeybb) to contend with, both very highly rated, but he treated them with total contempt, really.

“I remember thinking that on the day so he would be the one that stands out the most.

“Obviously Paddington was very good last year, too, but St Mark’s Basilica was different when he beat those two older horses at that time, I thought.”

The strength of O’Brien’s Coolmore bosses was heavily built upon the success of Sadler’s Wells as a stallion, and it is 40 years since the Vincent O’Brien-trained colt won the Eclipse as a three-year-old under Pat Eddery.

O’Brien’s memories of the horse are from his childhood, but he is well aware of his place in history.

Sadler's Wells (rail) beat Time Charter in the 1984 Coral-Eclipse
Sadler’s Wells (rail) beat Time Charter in the 1984 Coral-Eclipse (PA)

“I was only a boy at the time and when I was looking through the brochures from Coolmore while I was in school and I remember watching the pictures of Sadler’s Wells running, he used to carry his head a little bit to one side and even though he was doing that he was always very genuine,” said O’Brien.

“I suppose he was the first horse at the time I was unusually fascinated by and I would have only been very young at the time.

“Obviously when we started training our first Guineas (King Of Kings) and first Derby winner (Galileo) were by Sadler’s Wells and he was very much down the road, it was after already having something like five Oaks winners and he was already established as the most unbelievable stallion.

“The Eclipse, prestige-wise, is very important to a horse’s CV.”

Japan Cup likely to come into focus for Auguste Rodin

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The Japan Cup has emerged as an end-of-year option for the Aidan O’Brien-trained Auguste Rodin, who will be seen next in the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

Last year’s Derby hero started his four-year-old season up at a mile and a half in Meydan, but has dropped back to 10 furlongs the last twice, adding the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot to the Irish Champion Stakes he won over a mile and a quarter last year.

Such was the impressive nature of his success at the Royal meeting, connections would have been fully entitled to remain at that winning trip for the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown.

However, with the lure of becoming the first Derby winner since Golden Horn in 2015 to win the Eclipse, it was City Of Troy who got the nod to head to Sandown from Ballydoyle, with Auguste Rodin booked for a return to both 12 furlongs and Ascot later this month.

O’Brien said: “I suppose the Eclipse did come under consideration, but the lads make the plans about what they would like to do with them, and with Auguste Rodin he has won over a mile and a half last year and is an older horse, he’s had three runs now and two runs before Ascot.

“Ascot was his first big-race target of the year we felt and there was always the possibility that if it did go well we would go back to Ascot for the King George.

“Obviously the Eclipse is a really prestigious race for a three-year-old and there was always the possibility if it did go right in the Derby, City Of Troy would go to the Eclipse to take on the older horses and for us to learn a little bit more about the horse and for the horse to learn a bit more as well.

“I suppose Auguste Rodin definitely would have been in the mix for the Eclipse, but it looks the right fit to go back to Ascot for the King George with him and the lads obviously felt it was the right call to go with City Of Troy in the Eclipse.”

Separating Coolmore’s two most recent Epsom heroes does not come easy when both bring such champion qualities to the table, with both having their name mentioned in the same breath for the Breeders’ Cup Classic over the course of the last year.

Ryan Moore and Auguste Rodin after the Breeders' Cup
Ryan Moore and Auguste Rodin after the Breeders’ Cup (PA)

But having already enjoyed success at the end-of-season championships in the Turf in 2023, Auguste Rodin – a son of the late Japanese superstar Deep Imapct – could be tasked with breaking O’Brien’s duck in the Japan Cup later in the year, leaving the road to Del Mar clear for his stablemate.

“They both have different options for the second half of the season and Auguste Rodin could be a Japan Cup horse,” continued O’Brien.

“He has won at the Breeders’ Cup already and maybe the lads might do that and maybe City Of Troy could be a horse for the Classic.

“They like to play all their cards differently to suit their horses and at the same time they love watching racing and going racing, so they try to spread them out.”

City Of Troy’s route to Del Mar could include a trip to York next month or a first outing of the year on home soil, while the master of Ballydoyle is in no rush to expose the all-conquering son of Justify to dirt before a possible run in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, with a trip to Southwell mooted to garner experience on a similar surface.

City Of Troy has been earmarked as a Breeders' Cup Classic candidate
City Of Troy has been earmarked as a Breeders’ Cup Classic candidate (John Walton/PA)

“I suppose the leap after this race would have to be either the Irish Champion Stakes or the Juddmonte International and I would imagine the lads would be looking at those races, without knowing or discussing what they are thinking,” added O’Brien.

“I would hope we keep him racing in this part of the world for as long as we can and I just feel he is going to be a very important horse to European pedigrees if we can keep him to this part of the world.

“We’ve had horses just beaten in the Classic before, Declaration Of War and Giant’s Causeway, and they never went over for a dirt race before that. We took them to Southwell for a gallop and I know the surface has changed there now, it’s Tapeta and a bit different to Polytrack.

“I would hope if the Eclipse went well, it would be another race and if we decide to go to America then maybe we give him a day out at Southwell or something. None of that is written in stone what the lads are thinking, but that’s what is going on in our heads at the minute.”

Nashwan just one to carry famous Sheikh Hamdan silks to Eclipse victory

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There is no question that 1989 was the year of Nashwan. Through a glorious spring and summer he won the 2000 Guineas, Derby, Coral-Eclipse and King George – and he remains the only horse to have won all four in the same season.

To show the versatility needed to win Group Ones over a mile, 10 furlongs and a mile and a half marked him out as a special talent and the only disappointment was that his career ended with a defeat in the Prix Niel.

In being prepared for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe by his trainer Major Dick Hern, he took in the traditional French trial but could only finish third and never ran again.

The general consensus is that in Willie Carson having to chase down Opening Verse, the 200-1 pacemaker for Indian Skimmer in the Eclipse that none of the other runners managed to pass, Nashwan put in such a huge effort he never fully recovered. Opening Verse proved no ordinary pacemaker, either, as he went on to win the Breeders’ Cup Mile when switched to America.

While Nashwan did win the King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes afterwards by a neck from Cacoethes, who was seven lengths behind in the Derby, he was never quite the same.

“Willie has been quoted as saying he thought that was the race where he ultimately paid for the effort that day,” said Angus Gold, long-standing racing manager to the late Sheikh Hamdan Al Maktoum.

“I have a photograph in the office of him floating to the start that day, he had such a beautiful action for such a big horse.

“The way the race went, with the pacemaker Opening Verse going off at 100 miles an hour and Willie suddenly realising going up the hill that he had to go and chase him by himself, wasn’t ideal.

“He got there, but I think it took its toll on the horse. He never missed a dance all spring and that was after he spread a splint in January that year. I remember being at the sales in Australia when Major Hern rang me to say he’d popped a splint and would need 10 days walking.

“He still managed to get him to win a Guineas and then go to the Derby, he did not miss a beat. By the autumn we saw how that had taken its toll, but what a thrilling horse to be around.”

The subject of much discussion at the time, some ratings did not have Nashwan as the leading three-year-old that season. In fact, in some lists he was only third behind crack miler Zilzal and Irish Derby hero Old Vic.

“That was when I realised never to pay attention to ratings!” said Gold.

“Nothing ever showed up after the Niel, but he never settled the night before. The late, great Buster Haslam, who was travelling head man, said he walked his box all night and I just think we put him through a lot early on and all of us are guilty of it at some stage – with a horse that good you start to think they are unbeatable, but at the end of it they are still flesh and blood.

“We asked an awful lot of him and he never once let us down, not just in races as he had to do a lot at home, so it was a brilliant bit of training, but there’s only so long they can exert themselves at that level.”

Just a year after Nashwan, Elmaamul came along and won the Eclipse for the same connections.

“Elmaamul had finished third in the Derby and pretty soon after the Major just said we’d head straight for the Eclipse,” said Gold.

“Talk about tough horses, I don’t think I’ve been around a tougher one, my goodness he was a real fighter.

“For what he lacked in sheer brilliance he more than made up for in fight and determination, he was a fabulous horse for us.

“He was around in a very good era, the likes of In The Groove, Terimon, Ile De Chypre, but he gave us lots of joy. I always admire horses just below the top notch who put their heart on the line and win the odd big race.”

The familiar blue and white colours were not carried to victory in the Eclipse again until 2014, when the William Haggas-trained Mukhadram gained a deserved victory at the highest level having been beaten a neck in the race 12 months earlier.

“Mukhadram was quite a big price (14-1) from memory. He was a very high-class horse, as we’d seen in Dubai (second in the World Cup), and he’d been pretty consistent throughout his career,” said Gold.

Mukhadram was a good winner of the Eclipse in 2014
Mukhadram was a good winner of the Eclipse in 2014 (Chris Ison/PA)

“He was a horse who just got better and better throughout his career and won it as a five-year-old.

“He was a warrior for us who progressed from handicaps, he was fancied for a Cambridgeshire at three, nearly won the Prince of Wales’s at four and was third in the Eclipse the year before he won it.

“We took him to Dubai the following year for the World Cup and he was second in that and then he was fourth in the Prince of Wales’s on what essentially was his first run back.

“That might have been why he was a bigger price in the Eclipse, but he deserved it. He was third in the King George after that which we didn’t mind quite so much as we won it with Taghrooda!”

City Of Troy one of eight to take Eclipse challenge

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City Of Troy faces seven rivals as he shoots for further Group One gold in Saturday’s Coral-Eclipse at Sandown.

Aidan O’Brien’s charge disappointed on his initial run this term when well beaten in the 2000 Guineas before roaring back to form with a two-and-three-quarter-length verdict in the Derby last month.

He is long odds-on to strike over 10 furlongs for the first time in the weekend highlight, with stablemate and outsider Hans Andersen joining him on the trip to Esher.

As expected, White Birch was not declared with O’Brien’s Continuous and Luxembourg the others to miss out from an initial entry of 11.

This is the first Derby winner O’Brien has taken to the Eclipse and he has no qualms about bringing City Of Troy back in distance.

“Obviously he had an easy week or 10 days after Epsom and then his build up started slowly for the Eclipse, so that was the plan,” he said.

“When we got him back going we had the choice of the Eclipse or the Irish Derby, Los Angeles went for the Irish Derby and the plan was for City to come here.

“Obviously he’d never been on a turning track before, or an undulating one, he’d never been over further than a mile and he’d never been dropped in in a race so he had an awful lot to learn (at Epsom).

“Ryan (Moore) went out with the mindset that he was just going to let him relax and feel his way with him and that’s what he did. He was delighted, he said a furlong down he just took off and that is what we saw with him last year, which is a very unusual trait in a horse.”

As for the decision not to run Luxembourg, O’Brien added: “We felt Hans Andersen would be enough and he’ll go forward. Obviously in these championship races you want an even pace.

“Luxembourg might go to the King George with Auguste Rodin, that’s what we’re thinking at the moment.”

Dancing Gemini runs in the Eclipse for Roger Teal
Dancing Gemini runs in the Eclipse for Roger Teal (Bradley Collyer/PA)

Dancing Gemini finished sixth at Epsom, beaten just over eight lengths, but he tries his luck again for Roger Teal after previously suffering a narrow defeat when second in the French 2000 Guineas.

Kieran Shoemark takes the mount on Dancing Gemini as regular partner Dylan Browne McMonagle is required to ride Al Riffa for Joseph O’Brien, with the duo having finished a promising fourth in the Prix Ganay at the start of the campaign before the colt ran down the field in America last time out.

Jayarebe takes a steep hike in class for Brian Meehan after winning the Group Three Hampton Court Stakes at Royal Ascot, having also won the Feilden Stakes this term.

Owner Jeff Smith will be double-handed with both the Clive Cox-trained Ghostwriter and Andrew Balding’s See The Fire lining up.

Ghostwriter has finished fourth in both the 2000 Guineas and French Derby this term and is towards the head of the betting, while See The Fire is a likely outsider having finished down the field in the 1000 Guineas before coming home fifth in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Cox is hoping firmer ground will enable Ghostwriter to show his turn of foot to better effect than in France, but he has a lot of respect for the Derby winner.

Ghostwriter won the Royal Lodge last year
Ghostwriter won the Royal Lodge last year (Tim Goode/PA)

Ahead of the British Champions Series event he said: “I think we are all realistic about what we saw in the Derby, which was a supreme performance.

“We are highly respectful of that, but we feel that a mile and a quarter at Sandown is the best route for Ghostwriter and just hope that conditions remain on the drier side.

“Ghostwriter has always had that little bit of a swagger and a visible confidence in everything he’s done. He’s a colt we’ve always held in high regard and he was an admirable two-year-old, when he was unbeaten and he finished off with a very good win in the Royal Lodge Stakes. I still think there’s more to come.”

Stay Alert completes the line up, making a swift return just seven days after taking a distant fifth place in the Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh.

Sadler’s Wells the daddy of past Eclipse winners

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Saturday marks 40 years since Sadler’s Wells added Sandown’s Coral-Eclipse to his decorated racing CV, but it is the presence of his achievements off the track that are still being felt every day.

Owned by Robert Sangster, a member of ‘the brethren’ alongside fellow Coolmore founders John Magnier and training legend Vincent O’Brien, Sadler’s Wells is one of the most famous runners to carry his fabled green and blue colours that were a staple part of racing coverage during the 1970s and 80s.

A son of the great Northern Dancer, he finished his Eclipse-winning year of 1984 as European champion miler, having also tasted success in the Irish 2,000 Guineas and the Irish Champion Stakes, as well as rattling the crossbar in the Prix du Jockey Club and King George VI And Queen Elizabeth Stakes.

However, even such a distinguished record on the track would be surpassed once stepping into the breeding sheds for a stallion career that would make him one of the most influential sires of all time.

A pat for Sadler’s Wells after winning the Coral-Eclipse
A pat for Sadler’s Wells after winning the Coral-Eclipse (PA)

His first crop included the likes of Prix du Jockey Club and Irish Derby winner Old Vic, while Salsabil would be the first of many British Classic winners during a period that saw him crowned leading sire in Britain and Ireland a record 14 times.

Capable of producing champions across the distances on the Flat, luminaries such as Galileo and Montjeu feature on his list of Derby heroes, while Gold Cup stars Yeats and Kayf Tara are among those to excel over further.

Sadler’s Wells’ impact was even seen over jumps, as he counts three-time Champion Hurdle winner Istabraq as one of his progeny – as well as Cheltenham Gold Cup scorer Synchronised.

Today, his legacy lives on through both his progeny and the exploits of their offspring in the breeding world, with his greatest son Galileo holding the record for number of Derby winners sired and on the cusp of reaching 100 individual Group/Grade One winners.

Sadler’s Wells’ imprint on the Eclipse has continued through the success of sons Opera House and Refuse To Bend, plus grandsons Falbrav, So You Think, Nathaniel and Ulysses, as well as granddaughter Enable.

Move on another generation and he also features in the family tree of recent victors Ghaiyyath, St Mark’s Basilica and Vadeni.

Galileo has gone on to emulate Sadler's Wells as a stallion
Galileo has gone on to emulate Sadler’s Wells as a stallion (Martyn Hayhow/PA)

“I was minus three when he won the Eclipse, but his legacy lives on and what John, Vincent and dad built lives on every day in everybody’s life in this industry,” said Sangster’s son, Sam.

“You stand and open a racecard every day and it traces back to the horses that team bought – and obviously with Sadler’s Wells being a homebred, it was even more special.

“Year in and year out until his last book, Sadler’s Wells produced top-class horses and I think the only sire that has ever emulated him has been his son Galileo – and it looks like Frankel is going to do the same thing.

“They are rare these top stallions and we are always proud to have our name associated with horses like Sadler’s Wells.”

Trainer Ollie Sangster is just one of the many Sangsters that are involved in racing
Trainer Ollie Sangster is just one of the many Sangsters that are involved in racing (Simon Marper/PA)

Sangster died in 2004 aged 67, but the name remains ingrained in racing not only through the legacy of the horses that raced under his name, but also through the many family members now flying the flag across the racing industry.

“There’s plenty of us in the industry,” added Sam Sangster.

“Ollie is doing such a good job training at Manton and my brother Adam is down in Australia with his stallions at Swettenham Stud.

“My brother Ben, you see his horses at the top level out of a small broodmare band, and then there’s Ned Sangster who is on the back of a horse – who would have thought that.

“It’s incredible and I think the old man would be very proud. The pride is always brimming.”

City Of Troy hardens as Eclipse favourite after White Birch KO

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City Of Troy is now the 2-5 favourite with the sponsor for Saturday’s Coral-Eclipse after leading rival White Birch was ruled out.

The Derby hero was already the 1-2 market leader on the back of his Epsom victory, but his odds were further trimmed after it was reported Tattersalls Gold Cup winner White Birch will not travel to Sandown, as connections were not entirely satisfied with the results of a blood test on Wednesday.

White Birch’s defection has left Roger Teal’s Dancing Gemini and the Clive Cox-trained Ghostwriter now joint second-favourites at 7-1.

“It’s obviously disappointing for all concerned that White Birch will not be lining up in Saturday’s big race, and he would have been the chief market rival to City Of Troy, but in his absence, the Derby winner is now 2-5 favourite to complete the big-race double,” said Coral’s David Stevens.

In White Birch’s absence, connections of Dancing Gemini are relishing the chance to take over the mantle of City Of Troy’s biggest danger, as they attempt to reverse Epsom form with the Derby victor.

The colt’s trainer has the utmost respect for the challenge Aidan O’Brien’s son of Justify presents, but is optimistic he can close the eight-and-a-quarter-length gap that separated Dancing Gemini and the winner on the Surrey Downs.

“It’s quite sad news for connections (of White Birch), maybe not so sad for us, but he will be a big loss to the race, that’s for sure,” said Teal on a media call arranged by the Jockey Club.

“City Of Troy is a very good horse and Aidan has been very confident and bullish about him. Even after the Guineas run, he knew that was an off day.

“We’ve got to respect him but we’ve got to roll our sleeves up and do what we do – and if we can get anywhere near him, then we would have run a blinder.

“We had a wide trip in the Derby and were further back than we wanted to be. Ryan (Moore) went down the inner and Dylan (Browne McMonagle) went on the outer, so City Of Troy gained many lengths on us there. If we are a lot closer to him, I can see him shortening the distance for sure.

“The horse is fit and well and we’ve just got to let the horse do what he can do.

“I think the whole team does a great job and we seem to find a good one each year or every other year. For a yard of our size, it is brilliant and we’ve been to some big occasions – and I don’t think we’ve ever disgraced ourselves.”

Dual Eclipse hero Halling hailed as ‘one of the best’ by Bin Suroor

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For a man who during a 20-year period trained some of the best horses around, when Saeed bin Suroor says dual Coral-Eclipse hero Halling is one of the best he handled, it is no wild statement.

The Godolphin trainer was the dominant force in Flat racing during the 1990s and early 2000s, with a magnificent list of big-race winners.

Bin Suroor trained the likes of Dubai Millennium, Fantastic Light, Mark Of Esteem, Lammtarra and Sakhee but he rates Halling as right up there with the best of them.

Halling is one of only five horses to have won the Eclipse more than once, with Mtoto the only other since the 1920s.

He began his racing life with John Gosden running in the maroon and white Sheikh Mohammed colours before the switch to Godolphin blue, by when he had already won a Cambridgeshire. Three victories in Dubai followed for Hilal Ibrahim before former policeman Bin Suroor took over at the helm.

On his first start for his new trainer, he won the 1995 Eclipse under Walter Swinburn, a first Group One winner in the now famous silks in the UK, beating the ultra-consistent Singspiel by a neck.

“He is one of the best horses I have trained, quite simply,” said Bin Suroor.

“He showed up every morning and he was always easy to train. In his races, he always showed his class.”

His following race saw him easily win the Juddmonte International at York, after which it was decided he would have an ambitious crack at the Breeders’ Cup Classic.

Halling and Walter Swinburn after his first Eclipse
Halling and Walter Swinburn after his first Eclipse (John Giles/PA)

However, he failed to take to the dirt surface, and proved that once and for all when trailing home in the Dubai World Cup the following March.

“The only times he didn’t run well were when he ran on dirt. We tried it twice, at the Dubai World Cup and in the Breeders’ Cup Classic, but other than that he was brilliant, on turf he won five Group Ones,” said Bin Suroor.

“When he retired, he became a stallion and he went on to produce some very nice horses, Cavalryman and Jack Hobbs were both good for Godolphin and Norse Dancer was a very good horse for him too.

“To win as many top races in the UK as he did was something special, one of the best horses I have trained, definitely. To win five Group Ones is special.”

Following the experiment on dirt, Halling went on to win the Prix d’Ispahan, a second Eclipse and a second Juddmonte International.

His front-running style endeared him to punters and fans alike – and seemingly, his trainer too.

“I think I would put him up in my top five horses with the likes of Dubai Millennium, Fantastic Light and Daylami. One of the best I’ve had,” he said.

“He tried very hard and when you have a horse like him with class also, that makes them special.

“He started out with John Gosden and won the Cambridgeshire and progressed and progressed, he just improved with age.”

Bin Suroor only had to wait two more years to win the Eclipse again, with another of his stalwarts, the galloping grey Daylami.

Bought from the Aga Khan having won the French Guineas for Alain de Royer-Dupre, in two years with Bin Suroor he ran 14 times, only twice below Group One level.

His 1998 Eclipse win was a momentous one for the trainer, who also saddled the second and third, Faithful Son and Central Park

“I loved Daylami, he was one of my favourite horses. He won Group Ones in the UK, Ireland and the US and finished at the Breeders’ Cup in 1999,” said Bin Suroor.

“He was around for several years and I was very attached to him, he had lots of races at the top level.

“As time goes on, you realise how lucky you are to have horses like him, like Halling and Fantastic Light.”

Bin Suroor’s fourth Eclipse came via Refuse To Bend, a 2000 Guineas winner for Dermot Weld, and the trainer admits the 10-furlong Sandown trip stretched him.

“Refuse To Bend was a miler, he had more speed than the other two but he just lasted home that day,” he said.

The closest Bin Suroor has come since was when Farhh chased home Nathaniel in 2012 but with Wild Tiger a recent winner at Royal Ascot, from a much-reduced string Bin Suroor repeatedly shows he can still compete at the top table.

Teal believes that Shoe fits for Dancing Gemini ride

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Kieran Shoemark has been booked to ride Dancing Gemini when he lines up for Roger Teal in the Coral-Eclipse at Sandown on Saturday.

The Camelot colt made a pleasing start to the season when second in the Poule d’Essai des Poulains, the French equivalent of the 2000 Guineas, at ParisLongchamp in May.

He then took aim at the Derby in June, stepping up sharply to a mile-and-a-half trip at Epsom and starting an 8-1 chance when drawn wide in stall 15.

There he finished sixth of 16 when not afforded the most competitive passage through the race from his draw, but connections were far from disheartened and made plans to skip Royal Ascot to pitch him in at the top level again at Sandown.

Dancing Gemini has been ridden in both starts this season by the young Irish talent Dylan Browne McMonagle, but the rider is based with Joseph O’Brien and will be required to ride Al Riffa for the stable on Saturday.

Oisin Murphy was also considered but is required to ride for John and Thady Gosden in the Lancashire Oaks at Haydock on the same day, as he is retained by Qatar Racing, owners of his mount Queen Of The Pride.

Shoemark will therefore get the leg-up as Dancing Gemini steps back down to 10 furlongs at the weekend.

“Al Riffa is committed for Joseph, we knew he had an entry so we’ve basically worked around the idea that we won’t be getting Dylan,” said Teal.

“We set out to use a jockey familiar with our tracks, which will help us, though Dylan’s a very good jockey and I’m sure he’s going to be champion in Ireland.

“It will help to have someone who is streetwise and has a bit of knowledge of the track, so that decision was made.

“Oisin Murphy was due to take the ride but Mr Gosden has made an entry up in the Lancashire Oaks and Oisin is under contract to go out there.

“We’ve taken the chance on Kieran and we think he ticks a lot of the boxes.”

Eclipse decision on White Birch to be made on Wednesday

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A final decision on White Birch’s Coral-Eclipse participation will be made on Wednesday, with connections hopeful their leading light can take his place in an all-star showdown with City Of Troy at Sandown.

Third in the Derby last year, a cautious approach from his training team has paid dividends this season as the son of Ulysses has recorded three notable victories in the first half of the campaign.

White Birch got the better of Aidan O’Brien’s Auguste Rodin in the most recent of those triumphs, securing a first Group One and the biggest success of John Joseph Murphy’s training career since Newmill won the Champion Chase in 2006.

Derby winner City Of Troy lies in wait for White Birch at Sandown on Saturday
Derby winner City Of Troy lies in wait for White Birch at Sandown on Saturday (Bradley Collyer/PA)

Auguste Rodin roared back to form in the Prince of Wales’s Stakes at Royal Ascot, a race White Birch had to miss on account of some unsatisfactory blood results.

The colt will now conclude his preparations for the 10-furlong event in midweek when connections hope to give the trip to Esher the go-ahead.

“The plan is to go to Sandown and he will have a breeze tomorrow (Wednesday) and he will have his blood done in the morning again, with a decision made after midday,” said the trainer’s son and assistant, George.

“Hopefully we will be able to go and we’re really looking forward to it.”

At Sandown, White Birch would have to concede 10lb to Epsom hero City Of Troy as well as the other three-year-olds in the mix, which include Clive Cox’s Ghostwriter, Roger Teal’s French 2000 Guineas runner-up Dancing Gemini and Brian Meehan’s Royal Ascot scorer Jayarebe.

Duffield is a City fan as Troy takes on Eclipse challenge

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George Duffield knows a thing or two about the Coral-Eclipse and is backing City Of Troy to impress at Sandown on Saturday.

The 77-year-old twice found the scoresheet in the Esher Group One, firstly aboard Environment Friend for James Fanshawe in 1991 and then nine years later when called up by Aidan O’Brien to partner the ‘Iron Horse’, Giant’s Causeway.

Duffield – who also won the Racing Post Trophy aboard Aristotle for O’Brien – regards riding for the master of Ballydoyle as one of the privileges of his career and cannot see past City of Troy in this weekend’s 10-furlong event.

He said: “I think he’s a very good horse, City Of Troy. I think he will take a lot of beating in the Eclipse.

City Of Troy made a statement in the Derby
City Of Troy made a statement in the Derby (Adam Davy/PA)

“I think Ryan Moore gave him an unbelievable ride in the Derby and if that was me, I would have been panicking I was a lot further back than I wanted to be.

“I think Ryan thought ‘I’m a long way behind here and I’ve got to creep’ and then luckily it has opened up like the Red Sea. The horse got him out of trouble a bit – when you are riding a Group One horse and are somewhere you don’t want to be, the horse gets you out of trouble.

“I thought City Of Troy was impressive and I think he could be more impressive in the Eclipse. I don’t think you have seen the very best of him yet. I think he is a really good horse.

“I thought he was a very impressive two-year-old, he looked a natural and he looked like he knew the job inside out.”

Of course City Of Troy disappointed for the only time in his career at Newmarket in the 2000 Guineas, but like his trainer, Duffield always believed in the son of Justify, and having witnessed first hand the genius of O’Brien, was not surprised to see him bounce back at Epsom.

He continued: “I thought he was going to win the Guineas. Aidan’s horses have done that a few times now and for whatever reason on the day, they have missed out. But if anyone can bring them back to their best, Aidan can.

“I always thought City Of Troy would win the Derby. I always said forget the Guineas, if Ryan Moore is still on that horse at Epsom then he knows he’s a really good horse, Aidan knows he’s a good horse and there’s nothing that’s changed their mind. I wish I was riding him!”

Duffield has also hailed O’Brien’s accountability on the bad days, which dovetails perfectly with his brilliant ability to get things right when it matters most.

George Duffield rode two Group One winners for Aidan O’Brien
George Duffield rode two Group One winners for Aidan O’Brien (Mike Egerton/PA)

He said: “When something Aidan thinks can’t get beat runs appallingly, immediately he stands up there and will say ‘there are probably two or three stones I didn’t turn over’, which means it is all down to him.

“Not the jockey or the staff, it is all down to him and the way he trained it and he hasn’t quite got it right.

“He’s a great trainer and an exceptional man. I was lucky to win a couple of Group Ones for him, which was nice.

“I would always take it as a compliment when asked to ride for Coolmore. Aidan could pick and choose whoever he wanted and for some reason they picked me. It was always a great boost for me.”

City Of Troy may be building a CV that allows him to lay claim to the title of O’Brien’s best horse, but one of the toughest to grace the Ballydoyle gallops was undoubtedly Giant’s Causeway.

Given the ‘Iron Horse’ moniker because of his steadfast constitution and relentless schedule, it was Duffield who rode on his first start over 10 furlongs in the Eclipse.

“I said to Aidan afterwards ‘this won’t be the best horse you will ever train, but he will be the most willing’,” continued Duffield, reflecting on what was an epic battle with Kalanisi.

“Aidan told me he had been disappointed and they thought he would win the Guineas and the Irish Guineas and they knew he was a good horse, but he just hadn’t shown how good he really is.

“He said to fire him up there, follow the pacemaker and sit second or third and when you straighten up, away you go and see how you get on. He said he will get a mile and a quarter stood on his head and I would never dispute anything Aidan said as he’s such a genius.

“Richard Hills (on John Dunlop’s 7-4 favourite Sakhee) found a way up my inside, I don’t know where, going round the turn. He got through and went and I could hear a big roar as he was favourite and they all thought he would win.

“But I went back and beat him off and still felt I had more in the tank, he was floating underneath me, he’s not given me 100 per cent yet.”

Duffield went on: “He loved a fight, he used to wait for them. When he beat Richard Hills off I thought ‘that’s good I’ve beat him off, but if something comes out of the pack then I am here to be shot at’.

“Then Pat (Eddery, on Kalanisi) came and headed me and I just knew Giant’s Causeway would go back and get him, I just knew he really wanted to win this race. This horse wanted it even more than I did – which takes some doing – and he eyeballed the other horse and said ‘it’s not yours mate, it’s mine’.

“That was him in a nutshell, he was an unbelievably good horse, but he just had one of those temperaments where he just loved to eyeball horses and would never win four or five lengths – he would always just do enough to win his race.”

It was Environment Friend – a horse Duffield described as Jekyll and Hyde – that provided him with his first success in the Sandown feature, causing a 28-1 shock in 1991.

Having won the Dante aboard the son of Cozzene, Duffield felt he had a great chance of picking up a first Classic aboard James Fanshawe’s colt in the Derby, but would soon be left questioning the decision of owner Bill Gredley to head to the Eclipse after a disaster at Epsom.

However, the owner would be proved right as Environment Friend produced one of his best displays to scoop top-level honours for the first and only time.

Duffield said: “I thought he could win the Derby after I rode him to win the Dante and he ran appallingly in the Derby, he just never raised a canter from leaving the stalls to the winning post.

“Bill said he wanted to run in the Eclipse and I thought that was the wrong move after running such a bad race in the Derby.

“He was just a different horse at Sandown. I came from nearly last, crept around and went and mugged Steve Cauthen (on Stagecraft) on the line.

“I remember just turning into the straight, Ray Cochrane (on In The Groove) could see me creeping and he went ‘go on George, you get them boy’. His horse was spent and I can remember him clearly giving me a shout, it happened and it was fantastic.

“He was a very good horse, but he was a Jekyll and Hyde, he could have a brilliant day but he could also have a stinking day. There was no doubt that he was a very good horse.”