City of Troy brings big reputation into English 2000 Guineas

No rival could get close to City of Troy in his three starts as a 2-year-old in Ireland and England last year.

A winter of hype has led to the impeccably bred colt’s much-anticipated 3-year-old debut in Saturday’s Group 1 English 2000 Guineas at a mile at Newmarket Racecourse.

Aside from being a year older, there are a few other differences awaiting City of Troy in the $625,400 English 2000 Guineas. He will race at a mile for the first time, having never started beyond seven furlongs last year. He will race against two well-regarded rivals for the first time in Notable Speech and Rosallion.

Some things will be quite familiar. City of Troy will be heavily favored, as he was in his final two starts last year, and he has already won on good turf, the expected conditions at Newmarket.

Trained by Aidan O’Brien for the Coolmore syndicate, City of Troy is a Kentucky-bred colt by Justify out of Together Forever, winner of the Group 1 Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket in 2014.

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City of Troy started at seven furlongs in his three starts last year, beginning with a victory by 2 1/2 lengths in a maiden race at The Curragh in Ireland last July. Two weeks later, he won his stakes debut by 6 1/2 lengths in the Group 2 Superlative Stakes on the July course at Newmarket.

In his final race of the year, City of Troy won the Group 1 Dewhurst Stakes by 3 1/2 lengths as the 8-15 favorite on soft turf at Newmarket, leaving O’Brien impressed by the manner in which he handled the testing conditions.

The Dewhurst was run on the Rowley Mile course, which has more undulations than the July course, including a testing uphill finish. In each of his wins, City of Troy raced near the front.

O’Brien seeks a record 11th win in the 2000 Guineas, and his first since 2019.

The 2000 Guineas will be the mile debut for Rosallion, a winner of 3 of 4 starts for trainer Richard Hannon. Rosallion ended his 2-year-old season with a one-length victory in the Group 1 Jean-Luc Lagardere, France’s top race for 2-year-olds, at seven furlongs at Longchamp Racecourse in Paris last October.

Notable Speech, trained by Charlie Appleby for Godolphin Racing, will have his turf debut in the 2000 Guineas. By Dubawi, Notable Speech has won three times at a mile on the all-weather track at Kempton Park, near London, since late January. Notable Speech runs from off the pace.

The 2000 Guineas drew a field of 11 colts. Geldings are excluded.

The race has a post time of 10:35 a.m. Eastern.

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