City Of Troy is hot favourite for the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on Saturday as the racing world waits to see if he can cement his lofty reputation.
The Aidan O-Brien-trained colt earned comparisons with wonder horse Frankel after winning the Dewhurst Stakes in October.
He will seek a fourth victory from four starts when contesting the first Classic of the British Flat racing season.
Opponents include Rosallion, trained by Richard Hannon, who was a top-level Group One winner in France last year.
Karl Burke’s Night Raider, the Charlie Appleby-trained Notable Speech and Clive Cox’s Ghostwriter all go into the race unbeaten.
Charlie Hills’ Iberian had Rosallion behind him when winning the Champagne Stakes while Alyanaabi, for Owen Burrows, got closest to City Of Troy in the Dewhurst.
Rosallion’s stablemate Haatem, Inisherin, Task Force and Ten Bob Tony, the mount of Saffie Osborne, complete the line-up.
O’Brien is seeking a record-extending 11th 2,000 Guineas win at Newmarket on Saturday.
He said City Of Troy – a son of 2018 US Triple Crown winner Justify – was the “best two-year-old I’ve trained” after the Dewhurst at Newmarket and joint-owner Michael Tabor called him “Our Frankel”.
Frankel won the Dewhurst Stakes in 2010 – one of 14 victories in a stellar unbeaten career.
City Of Troy is already favourite for the Derby at Epsom in June and, were he to win that as well as the Guineas, he could bid to be the first horse since Nijinsky in 1970 to seal the British Triple Crown by landing the St Leger in September.