City of Troy posts lowest rating of an Eclipse winner this century

The previous lowest in the Eclipse this century was in 2010 when Twice Over clocked a bare figure of 122 (he was value for extra) but City of Troy was handed a performance rating of only 120 after he made hard work of fending off inferior rivals on Saturday.

However, the ground at Sandown was the most testing that City of Troy had encountered – it was the first time he had raced on going deemed soft by Timeform – and the very taxing conditions offer a legitimate reason for the underwhelming display.

City of Troy’s Timeform master rating remains 127p – the figure he was awarded after the Derby – and he is still the highest-rated three-year-old in training. The ‘p’ denotes that he is capable of better under the right circumstances and may yet post the top-class performance of 130 on Timeform’s scale that his powerful connections clearly feel is within his capabilities.

Timeform’s Eclipse report read: “City of Troy gained a fifth win from six starts, though given how simple his task looked it was a rather underwhelming effort, a shorter trip and steadier pace perhaps not suiting him so well as the Derby had, while, most significantly of all, ground that had become very taxing rendered this less about posting another big figure and more about getting the job done.

“Taking a keen hold tracking the pace, he showed signs of wanting to lug to his right from quite early and even more so off the bridle, ending up on the far rail after the field had come down the middle of the track initially, but although he was threatened in the final furlong, he knuckled down late and left the impression at the line that he had more in the tank to call upon had it been required.

“While this performance won’t worry connections of the top US dirt horses at all, the International at York is a race that has a long pedigree of producing big performances, and City of Troy remains with the potential to post a top-class one of his own there before any translatlantic mission, not least as firmer ground than he’s encountered to date really ought to suit.”

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