There is excitement in the air in Tipperary, with two of the finest horses to represent Coolmore on the racecourse about to embark on their first season in the stallion ranks.

For all City Of Troy and Auguste Rodin achieved on the track, their legacy could truly be cemented in their new role producing future champions of their own.

The two Classic winners form a formidable first-season line-up for Coolmore, as they are joined at the historic Fethard nursery by fellow freshman Henry Longfellow, the Group 1-winning juvenile out of the exceptional dual Classic winner Minding.

Hailing from superstar sires, they have all proved their fathers’ sons on the track. But now there is eager anticipation as the bloodstock world waits to see if they can stamp the stars of the future with the same distinctive hallmarks.

“We’ve seen an incredible reaction to these three first-season sires and we have been extremely lucky to be able to retire three Group 1 winners of such quality,” said Mark Byrne, head of nominations at Coolmore.

“The trio are by superstar stallions in Justify, Deep Impact and Dubawi and all three are out of Group 1-winning fillies. It’s a massive achievement for Coolmore to have horses of this calibre to showcase and I think we have something for everyone.

“They were brilliant racehorses, we’ve priced them up in the hope they will be appealing and they are – the breeders and the market have accepted them and they are going to be popular horses, so the next step is now to just go and get the mares out and produce the foals.”

Needs no introduction

City Of Troy will of course need no introduction to the many breeders from across the globe after his unquestionable exploits on the track that saw him become an unbeaten champion at two and the exceptional performer of his Classic generation the following year.

His quest for greatness at the Breeders’ Cup may have ended in dirt disappointment but that does not diminish from the son of Justify’s impeccable career on turf and a horse Aidan O’Brien describes as the best to grace his hallowed Ballydoyle training grounds.

“Obviously, City Of Troy was a superstar racehorse,” continued Byrne. “In particular, what he did that day in the Juddmonte (International) – and I don’t want to underwhelm that he was a champion two-year-old in Europe, who also won a Derby and an Eclipse – but what he did that day at York was incredible.

“He’s more his mother than Justify and there is a lot of Galileo about him. He’s full of quality, has an excellent action and is a great mover. He’s a good size with scope and strength, so that will be a bit of Justify in him, but for the most part there’s a lot of Galileo about him.”

City Of Troy may lay claim to being O’Brien’s most treasured pupil, but there was also never any doubt about the esteem in which he held Auguste Rodin, the dual Derby scorer with Group 1s to his name at two, three and four.

Along with Henry Longfellow, all three were the consummate professionals during their racing careers and have made an impeccable impression since adjusting to a new way of life

The quiet life

“They are just settling into their new routines and I suppose life is a little more mundane for them now,” added Byrne.

“They are three homebreds, so from the time that these foals are born, they are so well handled by everyone at Coolmore and set to such high standards that they are just super to deal with.

“You can imagine as racehorses they can be different because they are in full training, but they’re just getting used to a slower pace of life now and settling in.

“It is so far, so good and they are all just the ultimate professionals, they all just come out and walk and show and stand up and have been very good to deal with.

“We just hope to get off to a good start, they will start covering in the next month or so and it’s a case of just onto the next job for them now.”

You only had to see America’s excitement over City Of Troy’s Breeders’ Cup Classic challenge or the masses who descended on Tokyo to witness Auguste Rodin’s fitting farewell in the homeland of his father Deep Impact to get a sense of the international appeal of these debutants to the market.

Centre stage

When you blend in Coolmore’s first-ever sire by Dubawi, it is no surprise that the trio could prove vital to the organisation’s continued success on the worldwide bloodstock stage.

“We’ve had a hell of a lot of visitors from all over the world, from as far as America, Japan and all over Europe to see these horses,” continued Byrne.

“When you have horses capable of winning at the Breeders’ Cup or are by international stallions like an Asian stallion, an American stallion and then Dubawi, they are going to be hugely appealing all over the world.

“You only have to go to Book One or the December Sales at Newmarket and see how important the international market is for our stallions.

“These horses will be well known and if you imagine in a few years, when you go to present a yearling at the sales, their sires and their sires’ pedigrees won’t take too much explaining.”

Think of Coolmore and the mind instantly turns to Galileo, a stallion who is without comparison in recent history.

Although City Of Troy, Auguste Rodin and Henry Longfellow are all by world-renowned producers in their own right, there is no escaping the heavy Galileo presence on the dam’s side of their respective pages, something Byrne sees as the ultimate blessing.

Galileo lines

“We’ve obviously got a lot of Galileo mares and we have spaced them out to different sire lines accordingly – and I think it’s an incredible asset to have Galileo in the pedigree,” he added.

“When you mix that in with Justify, Deep Impact or Dubawi, then that is an incredible cocktail to work with.

“I think it can only be a positive thing and when you have, for example, Justify over Galileo, Dubawi over Galileo or Deep Impact over Galileo, they are breed-shaping stallions of the highest level you can possibly imagine, so I think it is only a good thing.”

Time will tell if City Of Troy, Auguste Rodin and Henry Longfellow can truly transcend into the upper echelons of both racing and breeding folklore, but for now the waiting game begins as covering season rapidly approaches.

For those within Coolmore, dreams will soon start to turn to reality, as the mares begin to arrive in Tipperary and the countdown begins to welcoming the stars of the future.

“We’re forever optimists and always looking forward to the next exciting thing – and fortunately this is a game where there is plenty of opportunity for that,” said Byrne.

“You are obviously waiting for those first foals and those foals become yearlings and then you are near to a runner, so I suppose the thing about this game is there is always something to look forward to, whether that is a foal to be born, a first runner to be entered – there’s something to be looked forward to all the time.”