City of Troy finished ninth of 11 as the odds-on favorite beginning his 3-year-old campaign of 2024 in the 2000 Guineas at Newmarket in early May. Had he done what he was supposed to do, win the only race he’s lost, City of Troy might now be mentioned as one of the modern greats of the European turf. He still might be, though an American dirt race is what could propel him into the pantheon. His trainer, Aidan O’Brien, has been speaking of City of Troy in such terms since last year, and while part of O’Brien’s job is promoting future stallions for the Coolmore group that owns City of Troy, the colt went a good distance toward backing up his trainer’s talk with a brilliant front-running win Wednesday at York in the Group 1 International Stakes. Hans Anderson was entered as a presumed pacemaker for City of Troy, but Ryan Moore, after a sharp break, decided to make the pace himself. City of Troy went along at a good tempo, received a stern challenge from late-running Calandagan in the final quarter-mile, but turned that foe away and won the International by one length. :: Bet the races with a $200 First Deposit Match + FREE All Access PPs! Join DRF Bets. Calandagan, a France-based gelding cutting back to about 1 5/16 miles after a breakout Royal Ascot victory in the 1 1/2-mile King Edward Stakes, has the makings of a very good horse himself, and after blitzing his third-to-last furlong in 10.75 seconds, Calandagan appeared to have City of Troy in his sights. But the front-running favorite continued finding more all the way to the finish, scoring decisively in the end. City of Troy’s winning time over a fast-playing course listed good-to-firm was 2:04.32, more than a second better than Sea The Stars’s course standard. And behind Calandagan the International field was spread all over the track. Ghostwriter, a cut or two below top class, mounted a brief challenge but wound up three lengths back of Calandagan in third. Four-year-old filly Bluestocking, second facing males last out in the Group 1 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes and a winner the race before of the female-restricted Group 1 Pretty Polly, checked in fourth, almost four lengths out of third and more than eight lengths behind City of Troy, whose official rating will now rise to a career best. Firmer footing beneath him is what City of Troy enjoys, yet he won the Group 1 Eclipse Stakes on July 6 over soft ground while facing older rivals for the first time. The Eclipse came after a tour de force in the 1 1/2-mile Derby, which City of Troy captured by 2 3/4 lengths a month after his Guineas flop. Last year at age 2, City of Troy easily won his three races, capping his campaign with a romp in the Group 1 Dewhurst. The son of Justify, out of the Galileo mare Together Forever, now has six wins standing alongside his Guineas defeat. O’Brien in a televised post-race interview spoke at length about all the different bits that have been used on City of Troy. Through his 2023 campaign and training into the winter, the colt had required an increasingly less severe bit for the rider to exert adequate control, but O’Brien said City of Troy’s defeat in the Guineas resulted from the colt pulling too hard in the early stages, running himself out on a fast pace in his first start after a winter break. Stronger bits have since been used again, and O’Brien said the one attached Wednesday to Moore’s reins was the sternest yet applied. City of Troy did not over-race, rating kindly enough for Moore before finally being asked for run with a quarter-mile remaining. Moore said his mount idled rather than releasing the full scope of his acceleration, yet he still won well. The International is part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, and City of Troy’s connections long have cast an eye toward the Breeders’ Cup Classic, a race O’Brien has coveted but never won. Indeed, front-running tactics Wednesday probably presaged the way connections hope City of Troy will travel on Del Mar dirt, if, as still seems the plan, the colt winds up in California. Calandagan, racing for the fifth time since being gelded, validated his King Edward while cutting back to a distance likely shorter than ideal. As a gelding, Calandagan can’t run in the 1 1/2-mile Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, which could open the door for a start in the Breeders’ Cup Turf. Coolmore, O’Brien, and Moore won three straight group races Wednesday, favored Los Angeles landing the Group 2 Great Voltigeur one race before City of Troy’s triumph and a race after The Lion in Winter posted a front-running victory in the Group 3 Acomb Stakes for 2-year-olds. Run over seven furlongs around a turn, the Acomb this year became part of the Breeders’ Cup Challenge Series, but The Lion in Winter might be too good for the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf. Coolmore never sends its leading prospects for the following year’s Classic races to America, and The Lion in Winter, now 2 for 2, currently is early favorite for both the 2000 Guineas and the Derby next year. Second choice in the Acomb, The Lion in Winter contested the pace from the start, made a clear lead with about three furlongs remaining and never looked back, winning by 1 3/4 lengths over Wimbledon Hawkeye. In third, flattening late, was heavily favored Ruling Court, a Charlie Appleby-trained Godolphin colt coming off a smashing debut win at Sandown. Ruling Court, racing from mid-pack, launched a rally with about three furlongs remaining but never looked like he’d be passing the leader. The Lion in Winter was produced by the Lope de Vega mare What a Home. His sire is Sea The Stars, whose course record City of Troy would shatter a little more than an hour later. :: Want to learn more about handicapping and wagering? Check out DRF's Handicapping 101 and Wagering 101 pages.