The waiting is almost over. City Of Troy’s date with destiny in the QIPCO 2000 Guineas is looming large and Aidan O’Brien’s suggestion that he may well be his only runner has only heightened expectation that the colt may indeed be something out of the ordinary.

City of Troy, a son of Justify from the Group 1 winning mare Together Forever by Galilio (Ire) is undefeated in three runs as a juvenile. The colt is one of 11 entered in the 2000 Guineas on Saturday at Newmarket.

O’Brien generally likes safety in numbers in the first Classic of the season, which is also the opening contest in this year’s QIPCO British Champions Series, and only once this century has he fielded just a single challenger, when Roderic O’Connor went solo in the 2011 edition. That was the year Frankel put up his jaw-dropping exhibition, which perhaps the master of Ballydoyle had anticipated.

Usually, two or three runners are dispatched from Ballydoyle, and O’Brien fielded four in 2002. But this time the man who has already won the race a record ten times seems prepared to let City Of Troy be his only representative despite the fact that he has numerous other potential candidates, such as Henry Longfellow and River Tiber.

O’BRIEN BIDS FOR 11TH 2000 GUINEAS

It seems a massive vote of confidence in a horse crowned last year’s champion juvenile of Europe after three exhilarating displays that drew comparisons with Frankel himself.

First came a striking debut success at The Curragh in early July when Ryan Moore struggled to pull him up. He followed that with a wide-margin defeat of Haatem in the Group 2 Superlative Stakes on Newmarket’s July Course and then, three months later, thumped Alyanaabi in the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes. The runner-up is himself a smart colt and had previously landed the Tattersalls Stakes.

Those triumphs took City Of Troy an aggregate of just over four minutes to achieve but have stayed fresh in the memory ever since. He already has an official rating of 125, which is between 3lb and 12lb higher than O’Brien’s past five winners of the race.

Some will say we have been here before, as Air Force Blue had a rating of 124 after ending his two-year-old campaign with three successive Group 1 triumphs. He went off 4/5 favourite for the 2016 renewal, the shortest priced-runner that O’Brien has ever had in the race, but beat only home and was well-held in his three subsequent races.

Overall, O’Brien has had the 2000 Guineas favourite on 14 occasions since 1999 but on only four occasions have punters been left forming a queue at the payout counter. His market leaders to fluff their lines, in addition to Air Force Blue, include Hawk Wing (6/4), One Cool Cat (15/8) and St Nicholas Abbey (Evens).

ROSALLION OUT TO SPOIL TO BALLYDOYLE PARTY

The clear second favourite in the ante-post betting is the Richard Hannon-trained Rosallion, fluent winner of the Group 1 Qatar Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere over 7f at Longchamp in October. He is regarded as the stable’s No 1, despite Haatem’s emphatic victory in the bet365 Stakes at Newmarket last week.

Charlie Appleby also has two intriguing candidates in Ancient Wisdom, winner of the Group 1 Futurity Stakes at Doncaster in the autumn, and Notable Speech, eye-catching winner of his three races this year after being unraced as a juvenile. The former may be more of a Derby prospect.

The unbeaten Ghostwriter (Clive Cox) showed his effectiveness on the Rowley Mile when landing the Juddmonte Royal Lodge Stakes and, talking of Juddmonte, they could have their colours carried by the Ralph Beckett-trained Task Force, a son of Frankel whose only defeat last term came at the hands of Vandeek in the Middle Park Stakes, a race they also sponsored.

There’s clearly depth to the field, with 21 still in the mix after Tuesday’s scratchings deadline, but if City Of Troy can pick up from where he left off, then the others may just be playing for places.

 

Tags: Aidan O’Brien, City of Troy, Newmarkey, QIPCO 2000 Guineas,

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