One of the myths that has developed over time in the Breeders’ Cup is that European turf horses cannot win against the Americans on dirt and this is why City Of Troy’s appearance in the $7 million Classic is the only talking point in town in the build-up to Saturday’s race.
Famously, the Classic has been won only once by a European horse when run on dirt and that was in 1993 with Arcangues springing one of the biggest shocks in racing history when triumphing under the legendary US Hall of Fame jockey Jerry Bailey at odds of 133-1.
Back then, the European spirit of adventure for having a crack on the dirt was at its height and the difficulty of switching to that surface from turf had not been marked, as it has now, by a series of near-misses, high-profile failures and the fact that it is Aidan O’Brien’s most significant blank with no winners from 17 attempts.
At Churchill Downs, just two years before Arcangues’ success, Arazi sliced through the field to win the Juvenile for France and Alex Scott also won the Sprint with Sheikh Albadou on the dirt.
A year before that, Paul Cole’s Ibn Bey had found only Unbridled too good in the Classic at Belmont and, but for jumping the shadow of the winning post, Dayjur would have won the Sprint.
Arcangues had worked eye-catchingly well
Arcangues was not a serial winner. He won five times from 18 starts in his career and his only previous top-flight success before going to Santa Anita was the Prix d’Ispahan that May.
But in the July he had worked eye-catchingly well enough on a new all-weather gallop with similar properties to dirt for Andre Fabre to give him a Classic entry, and the trainer maintained enough optimism for one national racing correspondent to tip him.
“I didn’t get the mount until four days before the race,” recalls Bailey, who won the Classic five times before retiring to become an analyst for NBC. “I had no idea what to expect. I was a massive strategist when I was riding. It was all preparation and knowing what to expect based on the form.
“There were very few videos then so I was dependent on form and knowledge from people around the horse. But the form for Arcangues only had tag lines, not details, so I was relying on Fabre to fill me in.”
What happened next was a comedy of errors. “I went into the paddock at Santa Anita and there were about 1,000 people in there and Andre Fabre is about my height,” continues Bailey. “So I couldn’t find him. I thought, ‘I’ll just go to the horse.’
‘They told me everything – but in French – so I had zero clue’
“Fabre wasn’t there but his assistants were very helpful and told me everything I needed to know – but in French – so I had zero clue. I was on the horse about to walk through the tunnel when Fabre caught up and all he told me was, ‘good luck’. That’s all he said.
“I looked at the boards, the horse was 99-1. I thought European horses run from the back, I’ll ease him back and try to let him finish in the middle, just not to be embarrassed.
“But he jumped, I took him back and heading up the back stretch he started taking me. I didn’t ask him for anything early.
“He took all the dirt fine, no problem. I knew on the far turn he was going to be on the board [placed], not win but I was confident he’d run well.
“But by the time we turned for home I knew he’d win. All I needed was a spot to run and he went through a very small opening.
“There was never any hesitation on his part and never any adjustment when I thought he was getting used to the surface. You have to go under the assumption that a trainer like that isn’t bringing a horse like that to embarrass himself.”
And that is what Bailey thinks about City Of Troy. “I realise [owners] Coolmore are sportsmen and run horses to support the event, not always because they think they’ll win, but Aidan [O’Brien]’s a pretty smart guy and I don’t think he’d bring him if he didn’t have a chance.
“City Of Troy is petite. He looks like a turf horse, he’s longer-framed and smaller than Arcangues who was a big, strong, fleshy horse. City Of Troy has a long stride and herein lies the big question mark; it’s quite obvious from the statements made by Aidan that once he gets into that stride he goes forever. It’s getting into that stride comfortably and not getting run off his feet early in the race trying to keep up.
“Not only has he got to be physically up to it, but with the [dirt] kick-back, he’s got to be mentally up to it. That’s where it comes in. If they’re mentally tough he might take a stride or two but after that they’re fine. But if they’re mentally weak it bothers them more.
“It’s not a Flightline-type race when there’s a monster [last year’s easy winner] in there but there’s a couple of really good horses who run close to the pace. Arthur’s Ride [an almost white horse] is no slouch and Fierceness. They’ll control the pace even if Fierceness breaks slow, which has been his undoing, but he gets the stalking-type trip he wants.”
“City Of Troy will dictate to Ryan how he rides him’
Bailey still gives eve-of-Breeders’-Cup advice to Ballydoyle jockeys. What, then, will he be telling Ryan Moore?
“I’ll tell him what he will already know, that the two horses who will be one and two are the horses he has to beat. It’s not like you don’t have to worry about them. They won’t dictate how he rides City Of Troy.
“City Of Troy will dictate to Ryan how he rides him. I didn’t have to make too many decisions on Arcangues, he took me into the race. Any race of any kind, if the horse is willing and taking you, they make it easier.”
What about Fabre? What does he think? “Arcangues was a good horse but he was not a three-year-old [he was aged five when he won],” he says. “But I think it’s all a lot of fuss about turf and dirt, it’s all rubbish. I don’t think you need anything different to win those races, it’s just about the ability of the horse.”
Was Arcangues Fabre’s greatest training performance? “Not really,” he says modestly, “but it was a good day.”