City Of Troy and White Birch look to be on course for a mouthwatering clash of the generations at Sandown on Saturday after the pair featured among 11 confirmations for the Coral-Eclipse.
Having put 2000 Guineas disappointment behind him with an imperious display in the Derby, City Of Troy will be a warm order to provide Aidan O'Brien with an eighth Eclipse success. The Ballydoyle handler has also left in Continuous, Hans Anderson and last month’s Coronation Cup hero Luxembourg.
City Of Troy will be meeting his elders for the first time and his biggest threat appears to be the four-year-old White Birch, who is three from three this season for John Joseph Murphy.
The grey was last seen claiming the notable scalp of City Of Troy’s esteemed stablemate and subsequent Prince of Wales’s Stakes winner Auguste Rodin in the Tattersalls Gold Cup. White Birch was also under consideration for Royal Ascot before an unsatisfactory blood test scuppered his participation.
Roget Teal’s Dancing Gemini could renew rivalry with City Of Troy after finishing sixth in the Derby, while the Clive Cox-trained Ghostwriter has also proven himself a high-class three-year-old by finishing fourth in both the 2000 Guineas and the French Derby.
Brian Meehan’s Hampton Court victor Jayarebe and Andrew Balding’s filly See The Fire are the other two potential runners from the Classic generation, with Joseph O’Brien’s Al Riffa and Stay Alert from Hughie Morrison’s yard completing the acceptors.
