Champion City Of Troy dominates 2023 juvenile rankings

PA Sport Reporters
January 23, 2024 10:57 am

He’s (not quite) our Frankel says ratings.

City Of Troy has been rated just 1lb lower than the figure achieved by the mighty Frankel as a two-year-old after being officially crowned the champion juvenile of 2023.

The son of American Triple Crown hero Justify carried all before him in each of his three starts last season, landing a Curragh maiden and the Group Two Superlative Stakes before putting the seal on a memorable campaign with a scintillating Group One success in the Dewhurst at Newmarket.

With a rating of 125, the colt becomes the 13th European champion juvenile trained by Aidan O’Brien and puts him only marginally behind Frankel and the Ballydoyle handler’s highest-rated two-year-old to date in Johannesburg, who were both given a mark of 126 following their respective debut seasons.

City Of Troy. A name that won’t be forgotten 😮
A spellbinding performance in the Dewhurst Stakes 🚀
Unbeaten in three starts. Where will he conquer next? 👀pic.twitter.com/GzTDP4KUKf

— Champions Series (@ChampionsSeries) October 14, 2023

In the immediate aftermath of City Of Troy’s Dewhurst triumph, O’Brien said: “He is the best two-year-old we’ve trained, there’s no doubt”, while part-owner Michael Tabor described the hugely-exciting colt as “our Frankel”.

Reflecting on City Of Troy’s achievements, the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board’s handicapper Mark Bird said: “City Of Troy proved himself the cream of the two-year-old crop in Europe this year with three impressive performances between July and October.

“His rating of 125 places him alongside high-class horses such as Zafonic and Fasliyev at the same stage of their careers and behind only four-time Group One-winning juvenile Johannesburg among his own stable’s illustrious roll call of European Champion Two-Year-Olds.”

City Of Troy finished clear of his rivals in the final classification, with Phoenix Stakes hero Bucanero Fuerte best of the rest with a figure of 120.

Bucanero Fuerte winning the Phoenix Stakes (Brian Lawless/PA)

City Of Troy’s stablemate Henry Longfellow, who defeated Bucanero Fuerte to land the National Stakes at the Curragh in September, achieved a mark of 119 to take joint-third honours alongside Simon and Ed Crisford’s Middle Park Stakes victor Vandeek, who is the highest-rated British-trained juvenile.

Graeme Smith, the British Horseracing Authority’s handicapping team leader, said of Vandeek: “He posted the best two performances by a British-trained juvenile in 2023.

“His narrow defeat of the excellent French filly Ramatuelle came in one of the strongest renewals of the Prix Morny (118) in recent years and he was marginally better again when winning the Middle Park with authority on his final start (119).”