A second Troy for Coolmore as faith in champions is justified at Epsom

It has only taken Justify two crops to produce a Classic winner and last year's European champion-two-year-old City Of Troy repaid Coolmore's faith in both himself and his sire with a commanding victory in the Betfred Derby at Epsom for Ryan Moore and Aidan O'Brien.

Bred by Coolmore affiliate Orpendale, Chelston and Wynatt, City Of Troy is one of six individual Group/Grade 1 winners by Justify who blazed brightly in the spring and summer of 2018, when the son of Scat Daddy became the first unbeaten winner of America's fabled Triple Crown.

Producing a champion two-year-old who has added Classic glory to his list of accomplishments is enormous for both Justify and the future stud career of City Of Troy, and the magnitude of the achievement was uppermost in the thoughts of Coolmore's MV Magnier.

"It’s huge," he said of the victory. "It’s something we couldn’t have imagined but Dad [John, Coolmore supremo] was always very, very keen on Justify and he always thought he would be a perfect outcross for the whole thing. To be fair to the lads, they put their neck on the line and it ended up paying off them."

MV Magnier signed for City Of Troy's dam Together Forever as a yearling at the 2012 Goffs Orby Sale where she was offered by Ballylinch Stud on behalf of her breeders Vimal and Gillian Khosla. 

The daughter of Galileo cost €680,000 and went on to win the Group 1 Fillies' Mile and finish fourth in the Irish Oaks as a three-year-old. City Of Troy is the best of her offspring and is the year-younger full brother of Bertinelli who won the London Gold Cup and was third in the King George V Handicap at Royal Ascot. Now racing in Hong Kong as Unbelievable, he was third in the Group 3 Queen Mother Memorial Cup at Sha Tin last month.

City Of Troy powers to Derby glory at EpsomCredit: John Grossick

Her younger full-sister Forever Together won the 2018 Oaks and they are half-siblings to Speightstown's Group 1 Prix Jean Prat winner Lord Shanakill.

City Of Troy's second dam Green Room has been an sensational broodmare both in the sales ring and on the track for Vimal and Gillian Khosla. An unraced Theatrical half-sister to Grade 1 Yellow Ribbon Stakes winner Spanish Fern, the now 22-year-old Green Room is the dam of eight winners from ten runners with three of them striking at the highest level.

Her stakes-performing offspring also include Do You Love Me, a full-sister to Together Forever and Forever Together, who was third in the Listed Fairway Stakes at Newmarket. Do You Love Me is the most expensive of her produce to sell at auction, bringing €3,200,000 from Phoenix Thoroughbreds at the 2018 Goffs Orby Yearling Sale.

Espania, an unraced full-sister to those fillies, made €3m to MV Magnier in the same ring 12 months after Do You Love Me while he signed for Forever Together at €900,000 in 2016.

Together Forever, dam of City Of Troy, won the Fillies' Mile at Newmarket in 2014Credit: Alan Crowhurst

Green Room's Sea The Stars filly Fenella was bought back by her vendors at €775,000 at the 2020 Goffs Orby Sale. She has a two-year-old colt from the second crop of Waldgeist and he was sold for 100,000gns at Book 1 of the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale to Crone Stud Farms by Ballylinch Stud, where Green Room boards.

Another half-sister to Green Room, Dayville by Dayjur, is the dam of Mark Johnston's Group 1 Gran Criterium winner Hearts Of Fire while another half-sister, the unraced Rusty Back, is the dam of Grade 1 Santa Anita Handicap winner and Group 1 National Stakes third  Heatseeker by Giant's Causeway.

Green Room's dam Chain Fern is an unraced daughter of Blushing Groom and is a full-sister to multiple Group 1 winner Al Bahathri, dam of 2,000 Guineas and Champion Stakes winner Haafhd.

Another branch of the family has produced the Group 1 Flying Five Stakes winner and hugely sought-after young sire Havana Grey.

City Of Troy is the second successive Derby winner to boast Galileo as his broodmare sire following on from fellow Ballydoyle star with bouncebackabilty; Auguste Rodin. The 2001 Derby winner has sired five sons to have emulated him at Epsom and Coolmore's use of his best daughters with Justify has produced five individual black type winners at a rate of 11 per cent stakes winners to runners.

Breege (centre, purple hat) wins the Princess Elizabeth Stakes at EpsomCredit: John Grossick

In addition to City Of Troy, the cross is also represented by Grade 2 winner Buchu, Group 3 winner Red Riding Hood and the Listed winner Capulet and Unless while European champion two-year-old filly and Irish 1,000 Guineas third Opera Singer is out of a Sadler's Wells mare.

It was a 1-2-3 for Coolmore sires in the Derby as Gleneagles' Lingfield Derby Trial winner Ambiente Friendly was runner-up with Los Angeles, by 2012 Derby winner Camelot, a place further back.

Local heroine for Black 

Breege, who was Surrey-born and raised only a few miles east of Epsom at Chasemore Farm, left her owner-breeder Andrew Black quite emotional after her narrow first black type victory in the Group 3 Princess Elizabeth Stakes.

The daughter of Starspangledbanner is out of Wowcha, similarly trained by John Quinn for Black and bought for £150,000 as a yearling from Doncaster. Wowcha was a maiden-winning half-sister of Starspangledbanner’s The Wow Signal, who landed the Coventry Stakes and Prix Morny in the same year the mare was purchased.

Wowcha produced Illuminated, a winner earlier this year in Bahrain, and a brother to Breege who was sold to the Hong Kong Jockey Club for 550,000gns at Tattersalls and is now three.

"We lost Wowcha, who had only three foals, so this is really important," said Black, who is from Epsom. "She deserved that, she’d been second so many times. In time, touch wood, I hope she can be an important broodmare for us."

Goffs London Sale

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