Aidan O’Brien isn’t one to talk down his horses and City Of Troy got the ‘best horse I’ve trained’ treatment in 2024 as he proved the star of the Ballydoyle battalion last season.
It’s easy to be sceptical of some of the statements regarding the newest superstar colts in O’Brien’s care but he does seem to speak from the heart when waxing lyrical about the latest apple of his eye.
Things looked like they might be over before they even began though when the Justify colt fluffed his lines completely in the 2,000 Guineas to start his campaign.
Getting wound up in the stalls was put forward as the excuse then and that had some rolling their eyes after a bitterly disappointing show.
As we’ve seen before though it’s a dangerous game to dismiss O’Brien and he proved his genius once again to get his charge back on track for the Derby less than a month later.
It was a terrific performance around Epsom Downs as he navigated traffic under a bold ride from Ryan Moore and strode clear in the closing stages for a dominant victory.
He was workmanlike subsequently in the Eclipse, back at 10 furlongs, but was back to his brilliant best when setting a course record around York to beat Calandagan in great style in the Juddmonte International.
A tilt at the Breeders’ Cup Classic was the ambitious plan for his swansong and his ability to handle the dirt was the big question mark heading to Del Mar in November.
Unfortunately that answer came fairly quickly leaving the gates, as he missed the kick slightly and never got involved.
A picture of him with eyes closed as he faced the kickback was a brilliant depiction of his struggles.
He wasn’t the first and won’t be the last European horse to come up short in the Classic.
All in all City Of Troy headed to stud having displayed flashes of brilliance but left behind a sense that there was plenty more to come if he had remained in training.
He was a better version of Auguste Rodin, who had a similar classic campaign in 2023.
That colt had another up and down season with victory in the Prince Of Wales’s Stakes the highlight.
He also ran a cracker when second in the Irish Champion Stakes but his career ended on a low note in the Japan Cup.
There were four classic successes for Ballydoyle in 2024 with O’Brien claiming his 16th victory in the Irish Derby.
With City Of Troy skipping the race it was Epsom runner-up Ambiente Friendly who went to post favourite.
Los Angeles turned around form with him however, having been third in the Derby, to give O’Brien another success in a strong renewal.
There didn’t look to be a lot between the three Ballydoyle challengers in the St Leger later in the season and Jan Brueghel edged a terrific duel with stablemate Illinois to land the oldest classic.
At the Curragh the following day star stayer Kyprios continued a flawless campaign with a cosy victory in the Irish version.
The son of Galileo is repaying his connections in spades having been nursed back to health following a bad infection in 2023 that had threatened his career.
Subsequent wins in the Prix du Cadran and the Long Distance Cup at Ascot cemented his place as the best stayer in training and the fact that he returns again next year is a real treat for racing fans.
There were plenty of nice two-year-old winners to emerge from Ballydoyle last year but perhaps not a colt that has caught the imagination like recent years.
The best of the juvenile bunch was the filly Lake Victoria who swept through the season unbeaten.
She has three Group 1s already in the bag and the daughter of Frankel goes into winter quarters as a solid favourite for the 1,000 Guineas after her stunning success at the Breeders’ Cup.
The O’Brien family has become a really dominant force in Irish Flat racing in recent years and Joseph was runner-up in the trainers title for the sixth year in a row.
Donnacha O’Brien has a smaller string in his care but has produced some top class performers in recent years and had the star three-year-old filly of the season in the shape of Porta Fortuna.
The daughter of Caravaggio was edged out by Elmalka in the 1,000 Guineas on her return but then went on a scintillating run of three Grade 1 victories in the Coronation, Falmouth and Matron Stakes.
She enjoyed a nightmare passage in the Breeders Cup Mile to end her season but that defeat took little away from an excellent campaign.
It’s not getting any easier to get a seat at the top table but Dermot Weld continues to compete year on year and came up with another fantastic filly in 2024.
Ezeliya ran out a commanding winner of the Epsom Oaks under Chris Hayes but unfortunately her career was cut very short with the decision taken in July to retire the Aga Khan-owned filly after a setback in training.
It was a case of what might have been with the Dubawi filly.
The biggest race in Europe is of course the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe and the success of Bluestocking really propelled Galway jockey Rossa Ryan into the big time.
As ever there was some terrific action on the racecourse during 2024 but as a whole the season probably didn’t produce the superstar it had promised at several points.
City Of Troy headed off to stud and the search starts again for the next ‘best horse I’ve trained’.
