City Of Troy heads 14 remaining in 2000 Guineas

City Of Troy will face a maximum of 13 rivals when he puts his unbeaten record and huge reputation on the line in the Qipco 2000 Guineas at Newmarket on Saturday.

The Justify colt carried all before him as a juvenile, with debut success at the Curragh followed by successive Newmarket wins in the the Superlative and the Dewhurst Stakes, with trainer Aidan O'Brien stating after the latter success: "He is the best two-year-old we’ve trained, there’s no doubt."

City Of Troy is likely to be odds-on to provide the master of Ballydoyle with an 11th victory in the first colts’ Classic of the season on Saturday, but will find several talented rivals lying in wait.

The clear-second favourite is the Richard Hannon-trained Rosallion, not seen since landing the Prix Jean-Luc Lagardere at Longchamp in October, while Clive Cox’s Royal Lodge hero Ghostwriter is another who brings high-class course and distance form to the table.

One of the most intriguing runners is undoubtedly Night Raider, who has twice dominated his rivals on the all-weather at Southwell and trainer Karl Burke is in no doubt he possesses the required ability to make the huge step up to the top level this weekend.

He said: "He’s a lovely animal and whatever he does on Saturday, he’s going to keep improving through the year. He’s got a lot of scope, he’s a high-class animal and I’m sure he’s a Group One horse in the making.

"Whether Saturday comes a bit too soon for him, and obviously it’s a high-class race as well, we’ll have to wait and see, but he’s a horse with a lot of potential and a lot of ability – I don’t think I’ve seen a horse work better up the Polytrack in Middleham in the 23 years since we’ve been here.

"He’s just got an awfully high cruising speed and he can