Aidan O'Brien has officially announced City of Troy, Los Angeles, and outsider Euphoric as his three planned runners on Saturday's Betfred Derby.
With six horses still in the race at the confirmation stage on Monday, the Ballydoyle handler is still in an excellent position to try and add to his record total of nine victories in the premier Classic.
However, that number is expected to be cut in half on race day as French 2000 Guineas winner Diego Velazquez is scheduled to return across the Channel for Sunday's Prix du Jockey Club at Chantilly, while Portland and Illinois appear unlikely to go to Epsom.
“That is what we’re thinking of, maybe the three, everything seems well with them all at the moment so that’s what we’re thinking,” O’Brien highlighted.
O'Brien's remarks seem to alleviate any worries regarding City of Troy's involvement, given that multiple bookies have indicated a strong endorsement of Los Angeles.
While Paddy Power had the stablemates even closer together in the market, with City Of Troy pushed out to the same price and Los Angeles a 100-30 shot from 5-1, Coral cut the Leopardstown Derby Trial winner to 4-1 from 9-2 and eased City Of Troy at the head of the betting to 11-4 from 9-4.
Coral has also seen support for Charlie Appleby’s Ancient Wisdom, with their spokesman David Stevens saying: “City Of Troy was as short as 7-4 for the Derby last week, but in recent days Ancient Wisdom, who was 11-1, and Los Angeles, 6-1 at the weekend, have been the pair attracting the most support, to the point where either could now end up replacing City Of Troy as big-race favourite come Saturday.”
O`Brien added: “That (ground) should be fine I think, they’re giving Friday and Saturday dry, so you often see the ground can be slow for the Oaks and perfect for the Derby. We think and hope it’s going to be nice ground and I think that’ll suit everybody really.”