City Of Troy gets a C grade for his Eclipse win and I wouldn't back him for the Juddmonte International
If you told me on Saturday morning that the highlight of my trip to Sandown on Saturday was seeing John Barnes do his World In Motion rap, I would have said you were stark raving mad, not because I hadn't been pre-warned that Barnsey was in attendance and that England were playing football later that evening, but because I was expecting to see a really exciting performance from City Of Troy in the Coral-Eclipse.
The first thing to say is that, having been brought up within earshot of Sandown's racecourse commentary, I know full well how hard it is to look good up that hill on soft ground and City Of Troy probably won with a lot more in hand than the official margin suggests. However, he did look pretty lethargic throughout the contest, the time was really slow in comparison with some handicaps later on the card and the worst thing of all was how he hung towards the rail up the straight.
He hung a bit to his right at Epsom on the camber too but I thought nothing of it because he had a loose horse in his way that day. It was really marked at Sandown though, and I can't remember too many superstar horses who did that and continued to be good horses, or weren't diagnosed with an issue of some sort later in their career.
Read the full story
Read award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing, with exclusive news, interviews, columns, investigations, stable tours and subscriber-only emails.
Subscribe to unlock
- Racing Post digital newspaper (worth over £100 per month)
- Award-winning journalism from the best writers in racing
- Expert tips from the likes of Tom Segal and Paul Kealy
- Replays and results analysis from all UK and Irish racecourses
- Form study tools including the Pro Card and Horse Tracker
- Extensive archive of statistics covering horses, trainers, jockeys, owners, pedigree and sales data
Already a subscriber?Log in
Published on inTom Segal
Last updated
- Tom Segal with a trainer, a jockey and a horse to follow this jumps season - including a fancy for the Triumph
- It was a massive overcomplication - how I got it wrong in the Arc
- Track bias meant the Cambridgeshire just looked and felt wrong - while here's an underestimated Arc contender
- The Breeders' Cup doesn't usually float my boat but I'm really excited about City Of Troy - and I think he's going to win
- Aidan O'Brien is a winning machine - but he wouldn't get my vote for trainer of the Flat season
- Champions League betting offer: get a 40-1 odds boost for both teams to score in Barcelona vs Bayern Munich with Parimatch
- Bag 50-1 odds for a goal to be scored in Barcelona vs Bayern Munich in the Champions League with Betfair
- Get up to £255 with the best Champions League betting offers + get 50-1 for a goal to be scored in Barcelona vs Bayern Munich
- Champions League sign-up offer: bet £5 and get £25 free bets with Ladbrokes this week
- Tom Segal with a trainer, a jockey and a horse to follow this jumps season - including a fancy for the Triumph
- It was a massive overcomplication - how I got it wrong in the Arc
- Track bias meant the Cambridgeshire just looked and felt wrong - while here's an underestimated Arc contender
- The Breeders' Cup doesn't usually float my boat but I'm really excited about City Of Troy - and I think he's going to win
- Aidan O'Brien is a winning machine - but he wouldn't get my vote for trainer of the Flat season
- Champions League betting offer: get a 40-1 odds boost for both teams to score in Barcelona vs Bayern Munich with Parimatch
- Bag 50-1 odds for a goal to be scored in Barcelona vs Bayern Munich in the Champions League with Betfair
- Get up to £255 with the best Champions League betting offers + get 50-1 for a goal to be scored in Barcelona vs Bayern Munich
- Champions League sign-up offer: bet £5 and get £25 free bets with Ladbrokes this week