City of Troy to miss out on Irish Champion Stakes and will take unexpected detour before participating in the Breeders Cup Classic

The road that might have led City of Troy to West Coast immortality now takes an unexpected detour into Middle England.

Aidan O’Brien was back at the Knavesmire on Thursday doing what he does best, as Content dug in jockey Ryan Moore to win the Yorkshire Oaks and make her own bit of history. His mind was already wandering, however, to what else the flying machine that burst onto the scene this summer had in store.

City Of Troy, who sensationally won the Juddmonte International on Wednesday, was expected to make a bid for the Irish Champion Stakes on September 14 before winning the Breeders Cup Classic on November 2.

But things change and after talks between his owners, the Coolmore trio of Michael Tabor, Derrick Smith and John Magnier, it has been decided he will be kept fresh to run for his life at Del Mar, the track outside San Diego. He is 3/1 favourite for the $6 million event.

“That price is ridiculous,” Tabor said.

There will be some practice required though, as City Of Troy will gallop behind closed doors with stable mates at either Southwell or Wolverhampton, two all-weather tracks that are normally frequented by horses of a considerably lower class.

“It looks like he’s going straight to The Classic, listening to what the lads are saying,” O’Brien confirmed. “I think he’s going to come to one of your tracks as well (instead of Dundalk). Southwell or Ryan mentioned Wolverhampton. We just want to get him on a different surface.”

When City Of Troy heads to America he will join a group of stablemates likely to include Content, who turned the tide in You Got To Me after their clash in the Irish Oaks last month; Emily Upjohn was third.

“She’s still riding in too high a gear,” O’Brien said, always looking for areas he can tweak. “Once she gets a good pace going and into her comfort zone, it’ll be great to see what she can do. Ryan gave her an incredible ride because she’s not straight forward or easy.”

What set her apart was her attitude. Content became the 100th individual Group 1 winner sired by Galileo, O’Brien’s first Epsom Derby winner in 2001. His importance to the trainer’s career – and how his genes as a breeder have shaped the modern thoroughbred breed – is hard to say.

“Do you remember a horse called Life Of A Lord? I was on that,” O’Brien said.

For comparison, Life Of The Lord won the old Whitbred Gold Cup in 1996, when O’Brien was just starting to train. He concluded that without Galileo he would still be training tricky handicap steeps and not Group 1 flat-country flying machines.

“It’s unbelievable,” O’Brien said. “He was the first son of Sadler’s Wells to win a Derby and it all happened from there. We’ve just been very lucky with him.”