City Of Troy bids to add elusive Breeders’ Cup Classic win Aidan O’Brien Remarkable CV on Saturday. Here we look at the Ballydoyle horses that have tried and failed to win the world-famous race since the turn of the century. . .

2000-2003: Passage approaches on first try

Giant’s Causeway He was O’Brien’s starting runner in the Classic at Churchill Downs in 2000 and ended up on the wrong end of an epic head-to-head with Tiznow on the infield.

Mick Kinane’s mount follows a spectacular three-year campaign in which he collected five Group 1s but was never able to get ahead of Tiznow in his first and only on clay. He was beaten only in the neck.

Giant’s Causeway (left) was denied by Tiznow in the Classic at Churchill Downs in 2000

He never raced again and Tiznow followed up by beating Sakhee by a nose the following year at the Belmont, where O’Brien saddled two runners, including the winner of the Derby, the Irish Derby and King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. Galileo. He was sent off the 10-3 second favorite but never managed to finish well beaten sixth.

2,000 Guineas and Derby runner-up and Eclipse winner Hawk Wing He is O’Brien’s highest-rated Flat horse in the Racing Post Ratings and tried his luck in 2002 but missed the break at Arlington and made no impression, finishing seventh behind Volponi.

Peruvian jockey Edgar Prado participated in the race Hold That Tiger He was running at Santa Anita in 2003. He failed to win in all three, but was dismissed last month by a 5-1 shot for second in the Woodward Stakes at Belmont under Prado. He only managed to finish fifth in the Classic.

2005-2009: Heartbreak in Washington and the favorite fails to fire

Oratorio It was Kieren Fallon’s only mount for O’Brien in the Classic, but the Eclipse and Irish Champion Stakes scorer beat only two rivals in the Belmont in 2005.

george washington It proved to be a low point in O’Brien’s Classic history. The 2,000 Guineas winner was a fantasy 4-1 prospect as a three-year-old at Churchill Downs in 2006 and headed home well just before weakening after being caught on a bump when challenged.

This was expected to be her last start but she returned the following summer after experiencing fertility problems at stud. He was defeated in three starts in four starts before tilting for a second time in the Classic at Monmouth Park; however, the race was marred by his death following a fracture of the cannon bone and both sesamoids in his right frontal fetlock joint.

henrythenavigator He was O’Brien’s last horse to finish second in the Classic. John Velazquez’s mount lost by three quarters of a margin to Raven’s Pass, ridden by Frankie Dettori and trained by John Gosden, at Santa Anita in 2008. He was the last European winner of the race. Duke of MarmaladeThat year the five-time Group 1 winner was sent at a lower price than his stablemate Henrythenavigator but fell to ninth place.

Rip Van Winkle He was the sole favorite among O’Brien’s 17 runners in the Classic when he beat the market leader 2-1 at Santa Anita in 2009. The Sussex Stakes and QEII winner suffered a foot problem again ahead of the race. His participation was in doubt throughout the week and he failed to perform at the top, finishing tenth, 17 lengths behind Zenyatta.

2011-2018: Fight narrowly denied in thrilling three-way finish

So You ThinkA double Cox Plate winner and Melbourne Cup third-place finisher for Bart Cummings in Australia, he joined O’Brien in 2011 and added three European Group 1s to his CV before starting the Classic that year as the 4-1 three-team favorite at Churchill Downs. he added. .

But the market leaders failed to live up to expectations, finishing fourth, fifth and, in So You Think’s case, sixth behind 20-1 striker Drosselmeyer.

Declaration of War (center): Narrowly rejected at Santa Anita in 2013Credit: How is Harry?

Declaration of War He came closest to giving O’Brien a Classic breakthrough at Santa Anita in 2013; Even though he couldn’t finish second.

The Queen Mother and Juddmonte International winner rode Aidan’s son Joseph and suffered only a nose and a head knock in a hugely impressive finish and thrilling display. Mucho Macho Man was the narrow winner.

O’Brien’s next four runners failed to trouble the principals. gleneagles I never made it to Keeneland in 2015, finishing the final eight games behind American Pharoah. Churchill’s And Decree of War They finished just seventh and ninth in the 2017 Del Mar race, won by Gun Runner, and Mendelssohnthe trainer’s most recent Classic runner in 2018, continued the Acceleration race at Churchill Downs with a fifth-place finish.

Now it’s up to the City of Troy.

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City of Troy: Big race favorite in the ClassicCredit: Edward Whitaker

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