City of Troy will go up against a maximum of 13 opponents when he puts an unbeaten record and huge reputation on the line in the Qipco 2000 Guineas at Newmarket on Saturday.
The Justify colt triumphed in the Superlative and the Dewhurst Stakes at Newmarket after his debut victory at the Curragh. Trainer Aidan O'Brien declared following the latter victory that "he is the best two-year-old we've trained, without a doubt."
In the first colts' Classic of the season on Saturday, City of Troy will have huge odds to give the master of Ballydoyle his 11th victory, but he will have a number of skilled competitors waiting in the wings.
The obvious second favourite is the Richard Hannon-trained Rosallion, who hasn't been seen since winning the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at Paris Longchamp in October. Another contender with elite course and distance form is Clive Cox's Royal Lodge hero Ghostwriter.
Unquestionably, one of the most intriguing runners is Night Raider, who has defeated his opponents twice at Southwell on the all-weather course. Trainer Karl Burke is confident that Night Raider has what it takes to make the significant step up to the elite level this coming weekend.
Karl Burke said: “He’s a lovely animal and whatever he does on Saturday, he’s going to keep improving through the year. He’s got a lot of scope, he’s a high-class animal and I’m sure he’s a Group One horse in the making. Whether Saturday comes a bit too soon for him, and obviously it’s a high-class race as well, we’ll have to wait and see, but he’s a horse with a lot of potential and a lot of ability – I don’t think I’ve seen a horse work better up the Polytrack in Middleham in the 23 years since we’ve been here. He’s just got an awfully high cruising speed and he can quicken off it as well. Clifford Lee rode him for the first time in a long time this morning and he said it’s like driving a car with 10 gears – every time you move on him he goes forward. I’m really looking forward to seeing him run, there’s no real pressure with him. There’s a few horses with bigger reputations than him going into it and hopefully we can burst a few balloons.”
Burke maintains that he has the "utmost respect" for the opposition, but the handler of Spigot Lodge isn't backing down.
He added: “Rosallion put up a fantastic performance in France, the negative for him is the rain that’s about this week – Richard has stated that he doesn’t want soft ground for the horse and I don’t think it will be any better than proper good ground. He’s obviously a high-class horse and I know his owner Sheikh Mohammed Obaid (owner) is very excited by him. When Night Raider won first time up at Southwell, there was a lot of talk about it being the eighth best debut of the year, so I went back and watched the other seven debuts, including City Of Troy’s, and he got four or five good smacks on the backside to go and win his maiden. How much improvement is there, I don’t know. He’s obviously won very impressively, but he’s been asked to go and do his job. Our fellow possesses a lot of speed and I hope we’re drawn near City Of Troy so we can sit and follow him through the race.”
Alongside City of Troy, O'Brien has also left Henry Longfellow and River Tiber, though the former is expected to wait for the French 2000 Guineas the following weekend.