‘He had no chance’ – Aidan O’Brien reveals exactly what went wrong for City Of Troy after Breeders Cup Classic flop
AIDAN O’BRIEN blamed himself for City Of Troy’s disastrous flop in the Breeders’ Cup Classic on Saturday night.
In an interview with Sun Racing columnist Matt Chapman, the Ballydoyle legend revealed why his Derby, Coral-Eclipse and Juddmonte winner stood ‘no chance’ once the race was underway.
City Of Troy finished a sorry eighth, 13 lengths behind the winner, the Coolmore-owned but American-trained Sierra Leone.
Following the race, O’Brien said: “He lost it at the start.
“Obviously I didn’t have him prepared to come out at the start quick enough. We thought we did buy we didn’t.
“He missed it [the break] and just left Ryan no chance really. But he was coming home very well but his race was over at the start wasn’t it.
“I should have had him coming out quicker. It just left Ryan with no chance really when he lost it at the start in that type of race.
“But for me I just need to step it up a little bit don’t I and have them a little bit better prepared.”
Before the race there had been a large question mark over whether the son of Justify would handle the furious speed at which American horses break from the gates, and the kick back on a dirt surface.
That question has now been answered, and unfortunately not the way O’Brien would have liked.
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Following the flop, jockey Ryan Moore highlighted the enormity of the challenge faced by the colt following the race.
He said: “He ran a very brave race. They went very, very fast and he got a load of kick back which he hadn’t experienced before and it was very hard for him.
“I think he was very brave to keep going.”
“He’s coming to Del Mar in a Classic and the previous two Classics only had eight or nine runners, today there were 14.”
City Of Troy will now be the 17-strong pile of Ballydoyle horses that have tried and failed to win the £5 million race, starting with the legendary Giants Causeway in 2000.
But O’Brien was at pains to pay tribute to the horse who has captured the imagination of racing fans around the globe.
He said: “He’s an incredible horse. It’s just so sporting of the lads to let us run him in this race so what can I say?
“For us he’s been just the most incredible horse and I would think what happened there was straight away the gates opening.
“Listen, it was a privilege to have him and we look forward to his foals.
“It’s great that the lads enjoy racing so much and that they’re not afraid to push the boundaries out and push them into something where they haven’t been before and expose them. “
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