Aidan O’Brien’s ‘spellbinding’ City Of Troy rated close to Frankel after being crowned Champion Juvenile

AIDAN O’BRIEN’S monstrous City Of Troy is on the way to matching Frankel after being crowned Champion European Juvenile.

The legendary Ballydoyle handler says the unbeaten son of Justify is the best two-year-old he has ever trained.

And he has been given a rating of 125 by the BHA, one behind Frankel and the best this decade.

City Of Troy’s 125 mark also makes him the highest-rated two-year-old since Pinatubo, who was given 128 at the end of the 2019 season.

Irish handicapper Mark Bird said: “City Of Troy proved himself the cream of the two-year-old crop in Europe this year with three impressive performances between July and October.

“His rating of 125 places him alongside high-class horses such as Zafonic and Fasliyev at the same stage of their careers and behind only four-time Group 1-winning juvenile Johannesburg (126) among his own stable’s illustrious roll call of European Champion Two-Year-Olds.”

City Of Troy was simply awesome in the Superlative Stakes at Newmarket last July.

He gave punters ‘shivers’ in the rout – which saw Timeform give him their highest rating for a winner of the race in history.

City Of Troy, who becomes O’Brien’s 13th European Champion Juvenile, then thrashed rivals in last October’s Dewhurst.

Amazingly, Sky Bet make him just 7-1 to win the UK Triple Crown – 2000 Guineas, Derby and St Leger – this season.

His nearest challenger, in the rankings at least, is football superagent Kia Joorabchian’s Bucanero Fuerte, rated 120.

City Of Troy’s stablemate Henry Longfellow, who defeated Bucanero Fuerte to land the Group 1 Goffs Vincent O’Brien National Stakes at the Curragh in September, achieved a mark of 119 to take joint-third placed honours.

Sharing that spot with Henry Longfellow is the highest-rated British-trained juvenile of 2023, the Simon & Ed Crisford-trained Vandeek.

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