White Birch and Kyprios had set the benchmark in Europe on 128, but City of Troy raised the bar with a brilliant length defeat of Calandagan who was three and a half lengths clear of Ghostwriter in third (record below).

Timeform handicapper Rory King said: “A Timeform rating of 130 for the Juddmonte International makes City of Troy narrowly the top-rated horse in training. If anything, that figure could be considered a touch conservative given the number of very smart horses down the field, but the proximity of Ghostwriter in third holds the form down somewhat in our eyes, while a significant track record needs viewing through the prism of a brisk following wind and fast times across the board on the day.

“It is possible to argue a sectional upgrade could be applied to the rating of the first two – despite the fast time the race wasn’t quite as strongly run as might have been expected and the pair of them were still drawing clear at the line – but a minor upgrade for the runner-up and maintaining a ‘p’ on the ratings of both of the first two seems a preferable approach.”

Hawk Wing is the highest-rated horse ever trained by Aidan O’Brien with a Timeform rating of 136. City of Troy remains capable of bridging the ratings gap but may be running out of opportunities to do so.

King added: “City of Troy and Calandagan retain the scope to post figures well into the 130s under the right circumstances, a shame the winner is unlikely to be kept in training next year as the two of them, with the likes of Economics thrown in for good measure, look potentially capable of pushing each other to superstar status.

“City of Troy’s chance of surpassing his damsire Galileo’s Timeform rating of 134 – and even Hawk Wing’s 136 – may well hinge on whether or not he takes to dirt with a date with the Breeders’ Cup Classic looming, but even if he doesn’t handle it, his bled of precocity, speed, stamina, class and fine attitude give him the chance of being at least as successful at stud as any of those since his breed-defining damsire who have trodden the same path from Ballydoyle to take up stallion duties at Coolmore.”

Lion roars in Acomb Stakes

City of Troy was completing a brilliant hat-trick for Ballydoyle after victories for The Lion In Winter in the Acomb Stakes and Los Angeles in the Great Voltigeur Stakes.

The Lion In Winter had created an excellent impression when winning a Curragh maiden last month and he stepped up on that to register a decisive length-and-three-quarter victory at York, earning a Timeform rating of 115p which is the highest by a two-year-old colt so far this season (Whistlejacket, 112, briefly held that distinction).

Timeform handicapper Simon Baker said: “The Acomb was about as strong as juvenile Group 3s get and both the visual impression – the first three came a long way clear – and the timefigure support a bullish view of the form.

“Wimbledon Hawkeye and Ruling Court both remain good prospects, but The Lion In Winter was decisively on top at the line, and the fact he’s already such a high achiever at seven furlongs bodes extremely well for his classic prospects next season considering he has a pedigree that suggests he’ll relish the Derby trip.”

Impressive Chesham Stakes winner Bedtime Story, a stablemate of The Lion In Winter and Whistlejacket, is the highest-rated juvenile this season with a figure of 116p.

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