EPSOM, England (Reuters) -Favourite City of Troy, ridden by Ryan Moore, won the 245th Epsom Derby on Saturday to give trainer Aidan O’Brien a record- extending 10th success in British flat racing’s blue riband event.
The 3-1 favourite, last year’s champion juvenile, came to Epsom Downs after disappointing in the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket last month but surged through on the inside and galloped across the line two and three quarter lengths clear.
Ambiente Friendly (9-2) finished second with another O’Brien runner, Los Angeles (6-1), taking third and 25-1 Deira Mile in fourth.
The victory was a fourth for Moore in the classic after last year’s win on 9-2 shot Auguste Rodin, Workforce in 2010 and Ruler of the World in 2013.
“It was hard to know what would happen today, but I was very sure we still had the best horse for the race,” Moore told ITV television.
“(At) Newmarket, it didn’t happen. You can’t pretend that we knew it would happen but we do know he has a big engine, he’s shown himself to be a brilliant two-year-old.
“At the Guineas we got a few things wrong but it’s great that he could come back today.”
The 16 starters became 15 runners after Voyage unseated Pat Dobbs in the opening strides, the loose horse then taking the front and leading City of Troy across the line.
O’Brien said the colt was the best juvenile and without a doubt the best Derby winner he had ever trained.
“We knew the Guineas went totally wrong. I made mistakes training him and that’s the bottom line…there were stones I didn’t look under that I should have,” he said.
“He was too fresh, he was unprepared, he blew up in the stalls when he went in…we knew the ability he had. Since then everything has been beautiful, he really grew up.”
The win was deja vu also for O’Brien, whose triumph with Auguste Rodin last year also came after a flop in the 2,000 Guineas.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Clare Fallon and Ed Osmond)