O’Brien hails superstar colt after racecourse gallop before his date with destiny in California in November

When Southwell racecourse staged a seven-race card with 71 runners on a Friday afternoon three weeks ago, a grand total of 560 spectators turned up to watch. But there were nearly 1,000 here on Friday to watch just five runners, and there was something else too: the buzz that heralds the arrival of a special horse on a racecourse, as City Of Troy, the Derby winner, paid probably his final visit to a British track.

The instant that City Of Troy set foot on the Tapeta, he went straight into the top 1-2-3 of horses to appear at Southwell. The exact point where he fits in remains open for argument, as the other contenders for the No.1 spot are Galileo, the 2001 Derby winner and later a legendary stallion, and Giant’s Causeway, who went down only narrowly in the 2000 Breeders’ Cup Classic. But if City Of Troy could succeed where both Galileo and Giant’s Causeway failed, and give Aidan O’Brien, the trainer of all three horses, a first win in the Classic, there would be no more room for debate.