D-DAY it was and so it proved for City Of Troy at York on Wednesday. The Aidan O’Brien-trained star, made all the running, in course record time, to beat his 12 rivals, holding off Calandagan by a length.

Joining the the pantheon of greats went some headlines? Insert thinking face emoji!

We can’t just take a record time as the marker of something outstanding. As it was pointed out, course records are subject to the conditions of the day. Kameko holds the record time for the 2000 Guineas, Workforce for the Derby but they are far from the best ever winners of those races.

Comparisons made with races on the card in 2009 when Sea The Stars won, showed that other races on the card were all run a second faster on Wednesday. We are not hearing that The Lion In Winter is the best two-year-old in Ballydoyle, despite his record juvenile time.

What could be said however, was that City Of Troy ‘owned’ this record, every step of the way. He was the fastest horse through the first two furlongs, significantly so compared to the second Calandagan (29.93 to 30.59 secs) and was still just the fastest over the final furlong. Though the mid-race pace was slower, he has admirable tenacity combined with his undoubted ability.

On ITV Ruby Walsh said he had seen two ‘great’ horses in his lifetime. No one can have a doubt that the achievements of Sea The Stars and Frankel made them, class apart, outstanding horses.

But are City Of Troy’s Derby, Eclipse and Juddmonte wins better than Galileo’s dual Derbys and King George?

Is he a better Ballydoyle colt, on racecourse performances, than Hawk Wing, Rip Van Winkle, High Chaparral, Rock Of Gibraltar, all officially rated higher?

Great horses

Of past champions, I’ve seen replays of Nijinsky and Mill Reef and list their races won. I watched Dancing Brave’s three-year-old career. Mill Reef and Dancing Brave, like City Of Troy, were beaten in their classics, but the sum of their achievements merited being called great horses. Nashwan’s haul of Guineas, Derby, Eclipse and King George in 1986 surely rank higher? Troy did the two Derbys, King George and Juddmonte (Benson and Hedges) in 1978.

Golden Horn’s Derby, Eclipse, Irish Champions Stakes and Arc, along with his seconds in the Juddmonte and Breeders’ Cup rank highly too.

Montjeu’s three-year-old career spanned five wins from six runs, the French and Irish Derbys and a scintillating Arc win. Peintre Celebre stayed home but dismissed a top class Arc field. Those three-year-old achievements trump City Of Troy’s wins, so far.

Timeform’s Greatest

Racehorses since 1970

147 Frankel

144 Brigadier Gerard,

141 Mill Reef

140 Dancing Brave, Dubai Millennium, Harbinger, Sea The Stars, Shergar,

139 Generous, Reference Point

Timeform rate him on 130p, they gave Hawk Wing 136 for his Lockinge.

The Juddmonte field on Wednesday did lack a depth of Group 1 quality. We could say City Of Troy just did as expected, with Ambiente Friendly a flop. It had taken Bluestocking until the middle of her four-year-old carer to win a Group 1.

His SP was 5/4, surprising for one so highly praised. There was also the matter of racing on the inside track, a difference of 10 lengths according to Simon Rowlands.

Wednesday’s win was not a Constitution Hill type demoliton job. How would City Of Troy deal with Economics? And we can hope that the form can be boosted by what Calandagan does.

The Arc, with perhaps ground conditions needing to be on the lively side for City Of Troy, doesn’t seem to be on the agenda and there are a few more worthy challengers for ParisLongchamp among the colts in Ballydoyle.

That we may not see him until the Breeders’ Cup is a shame. Del Mar offers a more appealing venture to the dirt than an east coast Breeders’ Cup might – given the current climate vagrancies and European horses not wanting a wet dirt track.

City Of Troy has proved very adaptable to tactics. The American colts do not appear outstanding. For all that his place in racing history may not be as high as connections are hailing, a win in America would be a significant achievement.