IT was a thrilling renewal of the Juddmonte International Stakes at York on Wednesday, writes Page Fuller. City Of Troy smashed the course record, silencing any doubters of Aidan O’Brien’s faith in him.

However, it was the horse in behind him, Calandagan, that put in a particularly eye-catching performance. Considering the course record stood at 2mins 5.29secs, his finishing time of 2m 4.49secs would also have broken it.

He was 0.65 seconds, nearly 4 lengths, behind City Of Troy with half a mile to go and showed an impressive turn of foot to get within a length of him. He was the fastest horse in the race, clocking a Top Speed of 41.70mph with two furlongs to go, he just had too much ground to make up.

Ryan Moore did well to dictate steady fractions mid-race which meant anything coming from behind would have a difficult task to pass him. That unfortunately applied to Caladagan and his running style turned out to be his Achillies heel in this race. It seems unlikely that he will have to meet this rival again in future engagements, so I expect a win at this Group 1 level will not be far away