O’Brien left no stone unturned in his bid to replicate the conditions City Of Troy will encounter when he runs in the Breeders’ Cup Classic in November.
The staff at Southwell produced a slower surface to make it as close as possible to dirt, while O’Brien flew over a set of American starting stalls for the workout.
City of Troy lined up alongside four stablemates and was kept at the back of the group by jockey Ryan Moore for the early part of the one-mile trip.
Congo River set a stiff gallop in front, but City of Troy loomed alongside approaching the home turn before powering clear in the final furlong.
O’Brien was thoroughly satisfied with the workout and believes his star three-year-old has the ability to become his first-ever winner of the Classic.
“We think he’s like Giant’s Causeway, but he’s quicker and Giant’s Causeway went close to winning the Classic (second to Tiznow in 2000),” O’Brien said.
“This horse has a little more zest than Giant’s Causeway and has a long stride. He’s dour like him and his stride doesn’t shorten, it lengthens. He’s tactically fairly quick, so he has a lot of those similarities, but we think he has a little bit more class.
“Justify is an incredible horse, like something we’ve never seen. He’s made like a big quarter horse and was still able to get a mile and a half, so that’s very rare.
“He’s a Triple Crown winner and we thought we’d never be lucky enough to get our hands on a stallion like that again.”
