We know that there are many G1 turfers who can only walk and/or trail on the soft turf.
I don't think they had any intention of going for the Arc with him. Their planned out targets for him seem to be around 10f. Its one of those funny things that makes no sense to me. A lot of their top races are 12f but they don't want to stand at stud the horses that are 12f specialist. So since they want City of Troy to be their next big stallion, have to avoid those 12f races, one is okay, more than one isn't. Also they might be setting him up for a stud career in the US if he does well in the Classic, like they did with Giant's Causeway and Declaration of War(before they sold him). They both stood their first year in Ireland then came to the US.tachyon wrote: ↑Sat Jul 06, 2024 9:46 pmWe know that there are many G1 turfers who can only walk and/or trail on the soft turf.
But City of Troy ran willingly at least to win this race.
I just hope that City of Troy will stay sound and contest more G1s later this year.
If he doesn't care for the soft, the ARC might be off the table anyway,
Personally I strongly hope that he will run in the BC Classic to become a true legend.
It looks like he has the pedigree.
I'm sure you saw in that tweet that Squeaky posted, they said the Dewhurst ground wasn't anywhere near as soft as the Coral-Eclipse. Before I saw that, I was going to say looking back at the horses that ran in the Dewhurst, the field hasn't produced much since. Only Haatem has won races since then and he finished 5th in the Dewhurst.Tessablue wrote: ↑Sat Jul 06, 2024 11:59 am He lugged in pretty badly in the stretch. Between that, the lead changes, and what looked like a labored stride at the finish, I wouldn't be shocked if he comes out of the race with an issue. Hopefully not.
Didn't he win big on soft ground last year? I know not all soft ground is the same, but did it come up then?
I actually missed it, so thank you both for providing that information! I wonder if they've sort of backed themselves into a corner with all of the hype. It's fairly common for hype to generate backlash if it isn't seen as fully justified, and I've read a lot of disappointment over his effort in completing what is normally a pretty special double. Are breeders all truly taking the PR statements at face value? The Classic has a built-in excuse, but can they afford for him to lose on turf again? Really curious to see if he ends up actually running in the Juddmonte International.Flanders wrote: ↑Sun Jul 07, 2024 12:01 am I'm sure you saw in that tweet that Squeaky posted, they said the Dewhurst ground wasn't anywhere near as soft as the Coral-Eclipse. Before I saw that, I was going to say looking back at the horses that ran in the Dewhurst, the field hasn't produced much since. Only Haatem has won races since then and he finished 5th in the Dewhurst.
Who knows, maybe it was more impressive than it looked because he didn't like the ground. Or could be they are just making excuses, really never know with connections. They need to hype horses up to make breeders want to use them.
I just read about his now…I’m sick to my stomach
Following a revision of German animal welfare laws, it is now illegal to train horses younger than 30 months of age.
As far as racing is concerned, an exemption has been secured while a behavioural study on the physical and mental health on the horses in question is undertaken and analysed.
Germany already has restrictive rules on two-year-old competition; a two-year-old can race no more than six times in their first year and can only start their racing career in June of that season. It is anticipated that the exemption will run until 2027, when it is expected that the study – Project Horsewatch – will be presented to Parliament. Should the 30-month rule still be deemed appropriate, there could well be implications for other EU countries, including France and Ireland, under EU law.
