City Of Troy named Timeform’s Horse Of The Year despite Breeders’ Cup flop as Bluestocking not in top three
CITY OF TROY was named Horse Of The Year at the annual Timeform Awards, despite his abysmal flop in the Breeders’ Cup Classic earlier this month.
The form-boffins had Aidan O’Brien’s star ahead of stayer Kyprios and Roger Varian’s unstoppable miler Charyn.
City Of Troy disappointed the racing world when, after months of hype, he finished eighth in the Del Mar showpiece.
O’Brien later blamed himself for the disappointment, citing a poor start for the colt’s sub-par performance.
The Derby, Eclipse and Juddmonte International winner also flopped in the 2,000 Guineas in May, finishing a whopping 17 lengths behind Charlie Appleby’s Notable Speech.
Charyn, named Champion Miler and coming third in the Horse Of The Year Award, lost only two of his seven starts and picked up the Queen Anne Stakes, the Pix Jacques le Marois and Queen Elizabeth Stakes in the process.
Bluestocking, who was named Champion Filly and Mare, did not even get on the podium for the Horse Of The Year Award despite her win in the Arc de Triomphe after a late £100,000 supplementary entry.
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She instead won the Champion Filly and Mare prize.
Timeform’s Flat editor David Johnson said: “While City Of Troy’s reputation at home arguably outweighed what he showed on the track.
“He retires to stud at the end of his three-year-old season with the feeling that he could perhaps have raised his game further granted more suitable opportunities.
“Kyprios and Charyn may have finished behind City Of Troy in the Horse of the Year vote, but they also enjoyed superb seasons and are winners of the Champion Stayer and Champion Miler categories.
“Aidan O’Brien’s star son of Justify achieved a rating of 130p following his frontrunning win in the Juddmonte International at York’s Ebor Festival, making him Timeform’s highest-rated horse trained in Europe this season, one pound clear of Calandagan (129), who chased him home at York.”
City Of Troy also claimed the Champion Middle Distance award, ahead of Francis-Henri Graffard’s pair Calandagan and Goliath.
Archie Watson’s dual Group 1 winning sprinter Bradsell was Timeform’s Champion Sprinter.
While Charlie Appleby’s Dewhurst winner Shadow Of Light topped the list of juvenile colts.
Johnson said: “Compared to previous years they look a below-average crop, while the opposite looks the case with the fillies with Lake Victoria narrowly getting the verdict over Desert Flower.
“A meeting between them in the Guineas next spring is something that will give Flat fans something to look forward to over the winter.”
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