City Of Troy to have stint at stud in Australia
GOING DOWN UNDER: Breeders in Australia will soon have the chance to tap into City Of Troy after Coolmore announced last year's Derby hero will shuttle to the southern hemisphere. Picture: Mike Egerton/PA
Breeders in Australia will soon have the chance to tap into City Of Troy after Coolmore announced last year's Derby hero will shuttle to the southern hemisphere.
An unbeaten champion two-year-old and three-time Group 1 winner at three, the son of American Triple Crown ace Justify is regarded by former handler Aidan O'Brien as the best horse he has ever trained.
His on-track career ended after an unsuccessful Breeders' Cup Classic tilt on the dirt at Del Mar but he still headed to the second stage of his career amongst Coolmore's stallion roster with an excellent record and reputation.
Having begun his career in the breeding sheds at Coolmore's Fethard base in Ireland, City Of Troy will now head to Australia, where his stallion fee will be A$49,500 (€30,000).
Coolmore Australia's Colm Santry told www.coolmore.com: "We are so excited to stand City Of Troy and offer him to Australasian breeders.
"Aidan O'Brien always considered him to be one of the best horses he has ever trained, while Ryan Moore also ranks him as the best he's ridden.
"He was an incredibly classy horse with a high cruising speed, as we saw so impressively in his three runs at two which he won by an aggregate margin of more than 12 lengths.
"He is by far the best son of Justify with an impeccable Danehill-free pedigree that makes him suitable to all the dominant bloodlines in this part of the world.
"His unbelievable accomplishments on the track saw him become the only horse other than Frankel to receive the Cartier Two-Year-Old Colt and the Cartier Horse Of The Year accolade in successive years.
"This is a horse with very rare ability and he's out of a Group 1-winning two-year-old by Galileo, so given how well the shuttle stallions are performing in Australia at present, he's a very exciting addition to our stallion ranks."
Meanwhile, Qipco Champions Day heroine Kalpana could bid to emulate Juddmonte's superstar mare Bluestocking this season, with the Middleton Stakes at York pencilled in as a potential comeback target.
The Ralph Beckett-trained Bluestocking enjoyed a fantastic 2024 campaign for the Juddmonte operation, with a successful reappearance in the Middleton followed by Group 1 triumphs in the Pretty Polly Stakes, the Prix Vermeille and the Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe.
With Bluestocking now retired for broodmare duties, Andrew Balding's Kalpana appears an ideal candidate to fill the void having rounded off her three-year-old campaign with a top-level victory in the British Champions Fillies And Mares Stakes at Ascot in October.
Juddmonte's European racing manager Barry Mahon said: "Kalpana will be back, she's in good shape and we might try to go the Bluestocking route with her and start off in the Middleton and head on to the Pretty Polly, all being well."
Another older horse set to carry the Juddmonte silks at Pattern level this season is Okeechobee, who has not been seen in competitive action since edging out royal runner Desert Hero in the Group 3 Gordon Richards Stakes at Sandown 11 months ago.
Mahon added: "Okeechobee is back on the go, he's in good shape and getting near to starting off. I think Harry (Charlton, trainer) was thinking of a race in Kempton next month, so hopefully he'll be ready for that.
"If we got lucky, we might get to take in the Tattersalls Gold Cup, which we were on course for last year when he had a setback.
"We've plenty to look forward to hopefully, fingers crossed they all stay happy and healthy."
