Breeders’ Cup: City Of Troy prepared as if ‘going into a world championship boxing match’

Aidan O’Brien says helium has near nary chromatic unturned successful getting the Derby victor acceptable for the richest contention successful the US connected his archetypal commencement connected dirt

Aidan O’Brien says helium has prepared prima colt City Of Troy arsenic if helium is taking portion successful a world title boxing lucifer connected Saturday.

The equine helium has championed arsenic the champion helium has ever trained volition look his eventual trial erstwhile helium races connected US ungraded for the archetypal clip successful the £5 cardinal Breeders’ Cup Classic astatine Del Mar.

City Of Troy has won six of his 7 starts and since flopping successful the 2,000 Guineas, has won the Derby, Eclipse and Juddmonte International.

Because helium is simply a lad of the US Triple Crown victor Justify, O’Brien and owners the Coolmore partners judge helium is the champion equipped of immoderate erstwhile challenger from the unchangeable to successfully modulation to the antithetic surface.

O’Brien’s grounds successful the contention is zero wins from 17 runners, his runners see immoderate of his celebrated horses specified arsenic Galileo, Hawk Wing and So You Think.

“I’ve looked backmost astatine those losses 100 times, of course, and we effort to larn everything we can, each the time,” O’Brien said.

“If we marque a mistake, and there’s ever loads of mistakes that we marque — evidently erstwhile they tally atrocious and get bushed — past that’s different chromatic we person to look under.

“At the moment, we deliberation we’ve looked nether them each for a equine that has ne'er tally present successful America.

“We’ve fixed him a hard clip lately and it’s similar going into a satellite title boxing match. You person to beryllium acceptable to beryllium driven implicit and bulletproof and we deliberation he’s arsenic bulletproof arsenic we tin person him earlier helium runs.

“Then, who knows, possibly determination could beryllium much things we should person done.”

As portion of City Of Troy’s preparation, O’Brien flew him to Southwell racecourse for a gallop, replicating US conditions by utilizing a peculiar starting gross with a doorbell which sounded erstwhile the stalls opened. The tapeta aboveground is not ungraded though.

O’Brien said: “Every clip each equine comes along, we effort to exposure them successful each way, bully and bad.

“The lads astatine 1 clip utilized to beryllium each astir commercialized value, but present it’s each astir getting the equine to amusement what they tin bash and can't do. If we didn’t bash this, we would astir apt accidental for forever, ‘why didn’t we bash it’.

“Obviously, we neglect each the time, but if we don’t fail, we don’t get amended and we ever larn much from your failures than your wins. That’s conscionable the mode it is.”