THE Sky Bet Ebor meeting was run on fast ground over the four days with the fastest times being recorded on the first day when two track records were broken.

It was an advantage to race towards the far side particularly in the sprint races, but as demonstrated by Ryan Moore on Content in the Yorkshire Oaks, staying towards the far side was generally an advantage.

The average RaceiQ time Index scores for each day are recorded below. Scores are graded between 0 and 10.

Time Index scores at York

Day 1: 7.57

Day 2: 5.75

Day 3: 6.61

Day 4: 5.14

The top three time performances of the meeting were all recorded on the first day and are detailed below.

Star Of Lady M (Time Index Score 9.9)

The Lion In Winter (Time Index Score 9.57)

City Of Troy (Time Index Score 9.47)

It should be noted that the wind was gusty and quite strong on days two, three and four, with day one enjoying the best of the conditions.

On the road out of York last Wednesday, the doubters experienced a Lazarus like moment, their belief in City Of Troy now steadfast, but boy did they take a lot of convincing.

His win in the Dewhurst last year should have been enough for us all to hitch our wagons to the train marked future star, but there were those who bailed out after his Guineas flop and were still not convinced after his Derby success.

Now, after his win in the Juddmonte International there can be no doubt that he is an exceptional racehorse worthy of his Timeform rating of 130p.

Such a rating is of course a matter of informed opinion rather than fact, and our belief in him is best rooted in the data that he has produced through his career which incontrovertibly labels him as a top-class racehorse.

CITY Of Troy broke the Sea The Stars track record in the Juddmonte International by posting a final time of 2m 4.32secs which was 3.14secs under the RaceiQ par for a 10-furlong group race at this track.

On a scale of 0-10, this gave him an outstanding Time Index score of 9.47 well above the average for the day of 7.57.

This track record must be seen in the context of conditions and pace, a literal interpretation would be unfair on the brilliant Sea The Stars.

The RaceiQ data shows that Ryan Moore was keen to ride a different race to the one he rode in the Eclipse. In the Eclipse City Of Troy was slowly away and when Ryan asked him to go forward, he became keen.

At York, Ryan was more aggressive from the stalls, sending him a positive signal to go forward from the start. This is clearly illustrated by the RaceiQ break speed data displayed below.

City Of Troy 0-20mph break speed

Eclipse: 3.22secs

Juddmonte: 2.41secs

Once he had established a handy position, Ryan Moore was able to take a pull through the third and fourth furlong, giving City Of Troy a breather.

A third furlong of 12.22secs and a fourth of 12.65secs were slower than the par sectionals than would be expected.

Thereafter, he wound the pace up from the front recording five sub-12.00secs furlongs as detailed below. The final three earned him a Finishing Speed Percentage of 7.11% suggesting that at the line he was only just getting into full gear.

City Of Troy – final five furlongs

F6: 11.91secs

F7: 11.29secs

F8: 11.03secs

F9: 11.19secs

F10: 11.74secs

Those final two furlongs are rated as very fast against the RaceiQ par sectionals and are in accordance with him galloping out very strongly and taking a while to pull up after the line.

It is clear from the data that he is not a horse with a sharp turn of foot, but he can lengthen his stride and sustain his speed for longer than other horses.

There is a school of thought that suggests City Of Troy got an easy lead and that enthusiasm for this performance should be tempered accordingly.

Such a theory relies on positional analysis suggesting that Calandagan in second was too far back in the field, set too much to do.

Easy lead

The fast final time achieved, and the individual sectionals achieved by City Of Troy do not suggest he got an easy lead enabling him to dawdle along and then quicken.

If anything, he was sent for home a long way out, enabling him to lengthen all the way up the long home straight.

Calandagan was still in 10th place with three furlongs to go and then finished the race well, his final three furlongs of 33.63secs were 0.33secs faster than City Of Troy.

He was also the only horse in the race to record a sub-11.00secs furlong where through furlong eight he was able to record 10.74secs.

This effort took him into contention, but his run petered out in the final furlong where City Of Troy was faster.

There is no doubt that Calandagan put up a top-class performance in second, but whether he could have finished as well if he had raced prominently rather than saving energy in rear is a matter of conjecture.

Breeders’ Cup

It seems as if all roads lead to the Breeders’ Cup Classic at Del Mar for City Of Troy.

His ability to sustain a strong gallop will be a big asset on the dirt where the gallop is likely to be fast and furious, but his ability to handle the surface is not written in stone. He does not move like a dirt horse. He has a long, raking stride with little or no knee curl. Dirt horses tend to have a high cadence displaying plenty knee action enabling them to grab a surface that shifts underneath them.

In the Eclipse, on soft ground, his long stride was unsuited to conditions, but his raw ability got him through. His average stride length was the longest in the race at 7.37 metres, but his cadence expressed as strides per second was the lowest at 2.18 strides per second.

In the Juddmonte, his cadence was the same but his stride length on faster ground was better at 7.6 metres. This data set belongs to a fast ground horse not necessarily one that will be suited to dirt.

If he is to win the Breeders’ Cup Classic, he will be relying on his speed rather than the way he moves.

His best chance would seem to be one that is predicated on him using his speed to get out of any kickback, a Juddmonte style ride would be ideal.