"Unbelievable... I've never had a horse like him... he's got a jet engine... no doubt the best two-year-old I've trained." - Just some of the accolades Aidan O'Brien has for the exciting City Of Troy who remained undefeated winning the Group I Dewhurst Stakes in sensational style last month.
And St Jude Farm is home to his exciting half-brother King Of Athens (USA).
Bred on the outstanding War Front/Sadler's Wells cross, he was chased up due to his Together Forever dam being a Group 1 winner at two - and a young mare with plenty of upside.
Upside which is becoming wildly apparent in the wake of City Of Troy's great form!
"He's just so natural, he has unbelievable rhythm and an unbelievable mind... he looks a very special horse," O'Brien said.
"And we don't know where the limit is - we usually push them but we can never find his limit, he just goes along with his ears pricked."
Jockey Ryan Moore is also impressed - "there is a massive engine there - he is as exciting a two-year-old as I have ever ridden."
Length of stride is one attribute City Of Troy has, something also noted about his dam - and in the first foals being sired by King Of Athens - and they have respected horsewoman Sue Benthien excited.
"I have never seen foals like these," she said. "They all come out looking like they are a week old - they don't have that usual gangliness and most of them are up and nursing within 30 to 45 minutes."
Sue is also impressed not only by this get up and go attitude being expressed by the King Of Athens foals, but also by their type - "they have very strong muscle development with great bone."
A horse who showed enough speed to break his maiden by five lengths over 1400m, King Of Athens was tried in good company - unlucky not to have won at stakes level, being only narrowly denied when only just beaten in the Listed Irish 2000 Guineas trial.
Described by O'Brien as "a lovely horse with a great temperament... a colt with lots of quality and plenty of ability," King Of Athens was "regarded highly" by the stable, looking set for a Classic campaign only to have stifle injury curtail his career.
King Of Athens' three times US Champion Sire War Front is proving his worth as a sire of sires with 28 of his sons siring stakes winners - 17 of whom have sired Gr.1 winners including Declaration Of War, sire of a Melbourne Cup and a VRC Derby winner!
With a half-brother like City Of Troy in the limelight, King Of Athens is a horse who is bound to attract increased attention.
