City of Troy trained by Aidan O’Brien will attempt to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic on 2nd November at Del Mar, southern California. The race is over a mile and quarter on dirt and is open to horses aged three years and older with a limit of fourteen horses in the race. This will be O’Brien’s eighteenth attempt to win the Classic going back to Giant’s Causeway in 2000.
It’s exciting that a Derby winner should be going to the USA to take on their best horses for a purse of $7 million. City of Troy was the 244th winner of the Derby but will be only the seventh winner to race over there. Those Derby winners that have travelled have been relatively successful. Sir Ivor ridden by Lester Piggott won the 1968 Washington DC International run at Laurel Park in Maryland, High Chaparral, the 2002 Derby winner, won the Breeders’ Cup Turf in 2002 and 2003, and he was followed by Auguste Rodin in 2023. Golden Horn finished second in the Breeders’ Cup Turf to Aidan O’Brien’s Found in 2015. Found went on to win the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in 2016.
But the success of the Derby winners has been on turf over a mile and a half. The two Derby winners who ran on a dirt track were not successful. The first to have a go was Papyrus, the Derby winner of 1923. He was beaten in a match worth $100,000 (£20,000) by that year’s Kentucky Derby winner, Zev, over a mile and a half at Belmont Park, New York. The second was Galileo, who finished sixth in the 2001 Breeders’ Cup Classic over a mile and a quarter, again at Belmont Park.
On 20th September City of Troy and four stable companions held a trial gallop at Southwell. The horses started from American-style starting gates and ran on a Tapeta surface that had been harrowed more deeply than usual to produce running conditions that would be similar to those at Del Mar. This exercise was part of the detailed planning to prepare City of Troy for the trip and recognises that the change of racing surface is a key element in assessing his chances.
Preparing Papyrus for his transatlantic trip in 1923 appeared to be equally meticulous. August Belmont, Chairman of the American Jockey Club issued a challenge to Papyrus to race in a match for $100,000 (£20,000) against the best horse in America. The winner would take 80% of the purse, so there was a guaranteed prize of $20,000 (£4,000) if Papyrus lost, and all expenses were to be paid. That year’s Kentucky Derby winner, Zev was eventually chosen to meet Papyrus. Many thought that it would pave the way for many more international races. Others dismissed it as a ‘gate-money stunt’ staged to swell the coffers of Belmont Park rather than a true sporting contest.
The challenge was made in mid-August and the race was set for 20th October. The newspapers carried reports about the race almost every day: Papyrus left England on 20th September aboard the Aquitania after he had finished second in the St Leger. For the six-day journey, a special area in a large airy luggage room on the port side had been set aside for the horse. A box with inflatable pads had been built for the horse and fitted with slings in which the horse could be placed if the ship rolled. The box was designed to float if the liner sank. A square of the deck was covered with tan and cork for exercising Papyrus in fine weather. Papyrus travelled with his galloping companion Bar Gold, the stable cat and her kitten, his exercise lad, Ted Banham, a farrier, a veterinary surgeon, and his trainer, Basil Jarvis. His owner, Ben Irish did not travel for health reasons. Newmarket hay and water was also sent so that Papyrus was not upset by a change of diet. Special clearance had to be obtained from the US Government to import the hay. It was tested for foot and mouth disease on arrival.
When Papyrus left for the US, there was still uncertainty as to who would ride Papyrus. The favoured jockey was the champion Steve Donoghue, but he was retained by Jack Joel, who was reluctant to release Steve from his contract. The matter was resolved when Steve convinced Frank Bullock to stand in for him while he was away and promised to be back to ride Joel’s horse, My Lord, in the Cambridgeshire on 29th October.
The reports from the early morning gallops encouraged optimism for Papyrus’s chances. The track was firm, even hard, and Papyrus appeared to handle it well. But the one element that the trainer could not control was the weather. It rained for two days before the race. On the day the track was like ‘a thick layer of French mustard, both as regards colour and greasiness’. The Americans encouraged Jarvis to switch Papyrus’s racing plates for ‘mud calks’, horseshoes with raised studs on toe and heel that provided better grip. Jarvis refused ‘I didn’t dare make a change at the last moment because Papyrus had never worn calks and might have injured himself seriously’. Anyway, he believed a good horse should be able to handle any surface.
The race was a cat-and-mouse affair. Zev had the lead and whenever Papyrus made an effort and came alongside, Zev went away again. An American writer said that Papyrus ‘might as well have been on roller-skates’. Zev won by five lengths.
City of Troy will be fit and ready to race on 2nd November. But will he be able to handle the dirt surface?
Tim Cox
Photo Credit: Kitty Trice, Racing Post
