CITY Of Troy banished the doubters in the Betfred Derby last Saturday. Those that had readily forgotten his display of sustained speed last autumn in the Dewhurst Stakes were happy to rely on the spurious “not trained” on metaphor after his 2000 Guineas flop.

They sought to rely on a narrative based on him not having done well or still being small, readily ignoring just how fast he could run as a two-year-old, an ability which hadn’t just disappeared into thin air just because of one poor run.