Jockey Wayne Lordan steps in for enviable Epsom Derby ride on O’Brien’s second-string Los Angeles as City of Troy commands most attention
City of Troy: Aidan O'Brien has described his enigmatic colt as perhaps the most talented horse he’s ever sent to the Derby. Photograph: Morgan Treacy/Inpho
Having pulled off perhaps the finest performance of his stellar career a year ago in transforming Auguste Rodin from Guineas flop to Derby hero, O’Brien is faced with having to produce a similar outcome now. Contrary to popular wisdom, lightning can strike twice, although the odds about it are a lot longer than those City Of Troy has been trading at.
Sceptics will put it into a hard-sell context of the horse’s future potential earning power in the breeding shed. Coolmore Stud’s PR model hardly tends towards understatement. But the bottom line is that a lot of credibility has been invested in City of Troy and only the most stupidly self-assured can entirely dismiss O’Brien’s seeming cast-iron confidence in the colt.
With other orthodox claims presented by a home team including the Lingfield Trial winner Ambiente Friendly, Godolphin’s Ancient Wisdom and the French Guineas runner-up Dancing Gemini, the fact so much attention is focused on City Of Troy underlines how much is riding on O’Brien’s judgement. However, even with a very viable alternative in the Ballydoyle camp, Moore stays loyal to City Of Troy. Even the famously poker-faced Englishman seemed to get caught up in the tide of expectation surrounding his partner prior to the Guineas. If it ended with talk of a potential Triple Crown looking embarrassingly premature, Moore too is staying loyal.
“We always thought this trip would suit him at three, but he has to go out and prove it now, and even more so after Newmarket. But there is only one place to find out, and we are here,” Moore said to Betfair on Friday.
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