City Of Troy can be toast of Del Mar, says Jamie Osborne

Lambourn trainer went so close to Breeders’ Cup glory himself on magical night in 2014.

It is 10 years since Toast Of New York narrowly failed to hunt down Bayern for Breeders’ Cup Classic glory. But his trainer Jamie Osborne is enthusiastic about City Of Troy’s chances of ending the losing run of Europeans in the dirt showpiece.

John Gosden’s 2008 hero Raven’s Pass is the last to cross the Atlantic and bring home the feature prize of the Breeders’ Cup meeting, although that was on a synthetic track rather than dirt. Not since Andre Fabre’s Arcangues struck at 133-1 in 1993 has a European won the race on its traditional surface – but Toast Of New York come so close when agonisingly held by Bob Baffert’s charge at Santa Anita in 2014.

And while Osborne’s trip to California ended in despair on the night, one prolonged by a stewards’ inquiry that could have seen Bayern disqualified, he feels it could be ecstasy for City Of Troy’s trainer Aidan O’Brien at Del Mar.

Having watched the son of Justify dominate proceedings from the front at York in the Juddmonte International – when breaking the 10-furlong track record – the Lambourn handler is confident City Of Troy has what it takes to achieve what Toast Of New York nearly did.

“It’s a different style of racing, but you just have to have cruising speed and what we saw at York from City Of Troy, he has that in spades,” explained Osborne.

“Toast could never have done what City Of Troy has done but if they have one thing in common, they can both get into stride relatively quickly and have the ability to cruise at a pace others find hard and then just sustain that gallop.

“The only thing that is stopping this horse being odds-on is the uncertainty about the surface. If this was a race on his ‘home’ surface what price would he be? It will be great to watch and I think there is every chance he will do just fine.”

Like City Of Troy, Toast Of New York used Southwell to prepare for the Breeders' Cup
Like City Of Troy, Toast Of New York used Southwell to prepare for the Breeders’ Cup (Simon Cooper/PA)

Toast Of New York and City Of Troy will have arrived at the Breeders’ Cup via very different journeys, albeit both visited Southwell for a workout in preparation for their big day.

Osborne’s star pupil campaigned Stateside with the Classic in mind once hinting at his dirt capabilities in the UAE Derby, while the surface is the last frontier City Of Troy has to conquer having dominated the European middle-distance scene on turf.

If he was to achieve the ultimate ending to his stellar career he would of course become O’Brien’s first winner of the $7million feature.

Osborne has full faith in the team behind this year’s Derby winner at Epsom and feels he could just simply be a special horse about to pull off a special performance.

“I think City Of Troy could be just better than the rest and he’s trained by a man and team who knows how to win this race. They might not have won it before, but they know how to win and what it takes to do it.

“There will be no stone unturned and I’m almost certain Ryan (Moore) is going to jump out and go forward and I can really see this horse almost making all. He’s definitely got enough pace, I would say, and if he is not making it he’s only going to have one or two in front of him.

“Ryan will be able to manoeuvrer him a little bit so he won’t be in a sand storm (kickback) and I think it could be brilliant.

City Of Troy enjoyed his day out at Southwell
City Of Troy enjoyed his day out at Southwell (Mike Egerton/PA)

“It would be a fantastic thing to do to go and win a Derby and then go and win a Classic – we won a UAE Derby and nearly did it, which is not quite the same!

“Aidan has won virtually everything and it would be brilliant if he could also win this. It’s brave, you can understand why they are doing it and I would love to see them go and win it and I think it is very possible.”

City Of Troy may be about to create history, but for Osborne there will always be slight disbelief about his own Classic adventure with Toast Of New York – a horse that took his team across the globe and remains a big part of everyone’s hearts.

The Classic was a step into the unknown for the horse who had graduated from Wolverhampton to Santa Anita, but he provided connections memories of a lifetime and almost provided a blockbuster ending to his fairytale rise to stardom in the shadows of the Hollywood mountains.

“When you think about it now, you still can’t quite believe it nearly happened and we’ve had a few years now without a horse of his quality,” continued Osborne.

“It was frustrating we didn’t win, but of course I would have taken that result beforehand. We were heading into the unknown because when he ran in the Pacific Classic at Del Mar it was then on Polytrack so this was his first run on dirt.

Aidan O'Brien will have left no stone unturned heading to Del Mar
Aidan O’Brien will have left no stone unturned heading to Del Mar (Mike Egerton/PA)

“We always felt he had the style to suit the dirt and he had the physique of a dirt horse, he had big hips and very strong behind and galloped in that manner so there was an element of hope and we took the chance. It went really well, just annoying to be beaten.”

Owned by Michael Buckley, now of Constitution Hill fame, the son of Thewayyouare – brilliantly ridden by Jamie Spencer – had almost shocked America’s best on that night of November 2 2014, but for Osborne it was relief took over in the initial aftermath.

A decade on Toast Of New York’s handler can also look back with pride, albeit with a few ‘what ifs’ on an achievement few from British shores have been able to match.

He said: “Turning in there was initially just a huge sense of relief that we hadn’t done anything foolish and haven’t fallen out the back of the television and been a complete flop. It was satisfying he ran so well and a relief we hadn’t made a duff move, but also slightly annoying.

Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore are California dreaming with Derby hero City Of Troy
Aidan O’Brien and Ryan Moore are California dreaming with Derby hero City Of Troy (David Davies for The Jockey Club)

“We turned in with a chance and I seem to remember from turning in to the line seemed to take for ages. All sorts of things went through your mind and there was just a few strides there in the final furlong where you were thinking to yourself ‘this could actually happen, he’s going to get up’.

“It’s one of those things and with any race that is decided by an inch or so, you can always think if we had done that differently or if this or that happened, that inch may have been in our favour. That’s always the case in tight races and if you had run that race 10 times maybe we would have won it three times. Who knows.

“That year 2014, he only ran four times, but he won a UAE Derby, finished second in a Pacific Classic and then finished second in a Breeders’ Cup Classic. You would have taken that at the beginning of the year.”

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