The highlight of this year’s Breeders’ Cup meeting is undoubtedly Coolmore Stud colt City Of Troy (USA) and his bid to make history in the Group 1 Longines Breeders’ Cup Classic (2000m) at Del Mar on Saturday.

City Of Troy (3c Justify -Together Forever by Galileo) is the $3 favourite after drawing stall three on the dirt course for trainer Aidan O’Brien who has been trying to win a BC Classic since Giant’s Causeway (Storm Cat) was beaten a neck by Tiznow (Cee’s Tizzy) at Churchill Downs in 2000.

City of Troy goes into the Breeders’ Cup off a hat-trick of Group 1 turf triumphs in the English Derby (2400m) at Epsom, Coral-Eclipse Stakes (2000m) at Sandown and Juddmonte International (2100m) at York.  He’s the top-rated turf horse in the world and his sire Justify (Scat Daddy) captured the USA Triple Crown on dirt in 2018.

O’Brien will instruct jockey Ryan Moore to let him roll forward to avoid the kickback in traffic.  “Obviously, it’s a very difficult task changing from turf to dirt in the Classic,” he said.  “It’s probably the toughest thoroughbred race in the world.

“It’s at the end of the season against older horses.  It’s on a totally different continent, totally different race make-up and totally different surface.  There’s so many firsts that he has to deal with and so many unknowns and variables.”

O’Brien also prepared his older half-brother brother King Of Athens (USA) and that close link will have the team at St Jude Farm watching Sky Channel on Sunday morning (5.41 am WA time) and hopefully cheering City Of Troy to a ground-breaking victory in California.

King Of Athens (War Front) was runner-up in the LR Irish 2000 Guineas Trial (1600) at Leopardstown in 2020 and he’s standing a fourth season at St Jude Farm in Serpentine for a $5,500 (inc GST) service fee.  His first 2yo crop will commence racing this season and the first of them to be named is the Ryan Hill-trained filly Evening In Paris.

“She’s just gone back out to the paddock,” Hill reported on Friday.  “She won an unofficial jump-out at Lark Hill and we will probably bring her back in the autumn.  I liked her as a foal at last year’s Magic Millions Winter Weanling Sale.  She’s a nice-sized filly and was relatively cheap.

“We won’t be putting her knees under any undue pressure too early.  Chris Harding owns her and the Harding family from Esperance have been good clients of our stable.”

Hill also prepares Big Bad Baggins (God Has Spoken) for Chris and his sister Kaitlyn.  He was bred by their mother Helen Harding and was a front-running debut winner at Northam in June before going out for a spell.

Evening In Paris was bred by Sue Benthien and her dam Chez Dumonet (Mastercraftsman) was a winner at Echuca and Pinjarra.  Second-dam La Memoire (Tale of the Cat) is a half-sister to G3 MRC Coongy Hcp winner Mr. Lofty (Grosvenor).

St Jude Farm can be contacted for bookings or further information about King Of Athens at 0418 912 662.