The 2,000 Guineas might not be a cakewalk for City Of Troy and this is the horse I fancy to put it up to him
In recent months it has become popular to compare Willie Mullins' dominance of the National Hunt scene to that of Aidan O'Brien on the Flat and it's true that they both win most of the best races a lot of the time. However, there's one big difference between the two brilliant trainers – when Willie Mullins takes aim at a big race he very rarely misses, while the same cannot be said of O'Brien.
This season Mullins has won the Champion Hurdle, Gold Cup and Grand National with the favourites and, while El Fabiolo fluffed his lines in the Champion Chase, when Mullins shoots, he more often than not scores.
In contrast I'm just not convinced you know what you're going to get with a Ballydoyle-trained horse at this stage of the season, which is why as brilliant as City Of Troy looked last season, there can be no guarantee what we're going to see from him in the 2,000 Guineas.
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Published on 24 April 2024inTom Segal
Last updated 10:00, 24 April 2024
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- British trainers brought a knife to a gun fight at Cheltenham - but it was Willie Mullins who underachieved
- The Cheltenham Festival is going through a down period, but here's one to be taken seriously for next year's Gold Cup
- Willie Mullins is a phenomenon who's rewriting the record books - but his dominance could cause long-term damage to racing
- Jumping ability is no longer key when it comes to landing big races - as I Am Maximus's Grand National win showed
- Why I won't be scared looking at horses near the top of the weights for a testing-ground Grand National
- British trainers brought a knife to a gun fight at Cheltenham - but it was Willie Mullins who underachieved
- The Cheltenham Festival is going through a down period, but here's one to be taken seriously for next year's Gold Cup