Incredible horse gives punters 'shivers' as jaw-dropping run sees him awarded highest rating in history

HOW can a horse be so good that punters think he's certain to win a race next May?

Well that is just the sort of impression the incredible City Of Troy gave after making a mockery of his sorry rivals at Newmarket.

Giving viewers 'shivers', the Aidan O'Brien superstar dominated the Group 2 Superlative Stakes, winning by six-and-a-half lengths.

That was his second win from two starts and immediately saw bookies make him 3-1 and 4-1 favourite for the 2000 Guineas and Epsom Derby respectively.

Those races are not for another ten and 11 months - but it shows just how astonishing this two-year-old colt was.

A son of Triple Crown winner Justify and out of a Group 1-winning mare, City Of Troy is bred impeccably.

History has showed that is not necessarily a sign of future success.

But in the case of this horse, it's hard to argue otherwise.

One punter said seeing City Of Troy win at Newmarket gave them 'shivers', while another labelled him a 'genuine superstar'.

It meant racing boffins Timeform gave him a rating of 119p in their system, the 'p' indicating there is more improvement to come.

The rating was also the highest given to a horse in the race's history - since it was first run in 1986.

And O'Brien, not one usually prone to exaggeration, was among those lavishing praise on his next superstar.

He said: "It’s unnatural ability. He’s a very unusual horse.

"He’s unbelievable mentally. Whatever speed you want to go he can keep pushing and he can go up and sit with anything we have.

"Ryan couldn’t pull him up at the Curragh last time (his first run) and I knew he was going to go on earlier at Newmarket as there’s not as much of a pull up after the line here!

"I was on the line and he came past me and started going again, so I was thinking ‘oh no’!

"He's such a lovely horse, a great-natured one too.

"He's got a lovely stride, good balance and he has all the things that you would dream about in a horse."

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