Talking Horses: City Of Troy ready to outshine rivals in the Eclipse

Five of the last nine Derby winners to line up for the Eclipse Stakes at Sandown on the next start have been beaten, but with the exception of Reference Point, who went down narrowly behind the outstanding Mtoto in 1987, they turned out to be no more than average winners of the Epsom Classic.

The four who completed the double, on the other hand, were all among the best Derby winners of recent decades and City Of Troy (3.35), the hot favourite for Saturday’s Eclipse Stakes, already looks like a worthy successor to the likes of Nashwan, Sea The Stars and Golden Horn.

Aidan O’Brien’s colt is the first of the trainer’s record 10 Derby winners to drop back in trip on his next start but Sandown’s stiff mile and a quarter could well be his optimum trip and he showed plenty of tactical speed to glide into contention at Epsom last month.

That was only the fifth start of City Of Troy’s career and reaffirmed his status as the most exciting three-year-old colt seen in Europe since Frankel, while also offering the tantalising prospect of better yet to come.

Sandown 1.50 Fast-improving Desperate Hero put up an outstanding effort on the clock in a handicap at Hamilton last time and looks ready for this step up in class.

Haydock 2.05 On the face of it, Games People Play was slightly underwhelming on her handicap debut at Sandown last time but the fourth horse home has already notched a win since and this significant step up in trip is likely to see further improvement.

Sandown 2.25 The gaps did not appear at the right time for Holloway Boy in the Hunt Cup last month but he still ran on to finish just over two lengths behind the winner and races off the same mark here.

Haydock 2.40 This does not look like a vintage renewal of this Group Two on paper and Kolossal, a Group Three winner in Germany before joining Jamie Osborne for €200k (£169k), could run well at a big price. She had been off the track for eight months and also lost a shoe when lugging top weight into eighth place in a handicap at Royal Ascot, and is just 1lb behind Tiffany, the likely favourite, on Timeform’s ratings, but priced up at 50-1 with several firms.

Sandown 3.00 The step up to a mile did the trick for Soprano at Royal Ascot last month and a repeat of that form should be enough now she returns to Listed company.

Haydock 3.15 Sheer Rocks was just over a length behind the winner in this race last year, is 2lb lower now and should improve for his seasonal debut at Royal Ascot.