Aidan O’Brien’s gamble to end hoodoo with City Of Troy gets lost in Californian dirt | Talking Horses

City Of Troy did not take to the track when trailing home eighth behind Sierra Leone in the Breeders' Cup Classic

The most predictable line in the aftermath of the Breeders' Cup Classic on Saturday was the one where Aidan O'Brien blamed himself for City Of Troy's failure to run to form - or, let's face it, to run any kind of race at all - in the meeting's showpiece event.

He lost it at the start and obviously I didn't have him prepared to come out quick enough," O'Brien said. We thought we did, but we didn't. He missed it and left Ryan [Moore] with no chance, really."