Star stayer Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) is set to spearhead the Ballydoyle team at Goodwood next week when he lines up in the G1 Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup on the opening day of the meeting, Tuesday, July 30.
The six-year-old spent the first few months of last season on the sidelines due to injury, denying him the opportunity to try and defend the Goodwood Cup crown he won so memorably when beating Stradivarius (Ire) and Trueshan (Fr) in a thrilling contest in 2022. However, this year he's set to return to West Sussex with an unblemished record of three wins from three starts so far in 2024, culminating with a gutsy performance at Royal Ascot where he regained the Gold Cup title he also won in 2022.
Now a five-time Group 1 winner, Kyprios is reported to be in rude health ahead of the feature race on Tuesday's card, with trainer Aidan O'Brien describing stayers of his calibre as “very rare”.
“Kyprios is lazy in his work, but we're very happy with him,” said O'Brien. “Everything has gone well since Ascot.
“He's a very special horse and has a lot of class. He has a lot more class than most people think. He does stay which is unusual, but he'd have no problem being a group horse over a mile and a quarter. As he goes up in distance, he just gets better. Those good stayers are very rare. When you go to those distances, very few horses get them really, but he has the class and gets the trip as well.”
Discussing the injury which forced Kyprios to miss last year's Goodwood Cup, O'Brien added, “It was a long process. At one stage we didn't think he'd live, but when he got through that part, we had to teach him how to use his joint and walk again. When he started walking again, he had to walk on a very slow treadmill with bails on either side of him to stop him falling over. That should tell you where he came from.
“It's incredible really–I never thought he would race ever again. There are so many people I should be mentioning who were involved in getting him back so all credit to them.”
O'Brien is also set to be represented in the other two Group 1 races at the Qatar Goodwood Festival, with Henry Longfellow (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}) bound for the Qatar Sussex Stakes and Opera Singer (Justify) an intended runner in the Qatar Nassau Stakes.
Unbeaten in three starts as a two-year-old, Henry Longfellow was last seen finishing second in the G1 St James's Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot, while Opera Singer was also in action at that meeting when filling the same position in the G1 Coronation Stakes.
“We're looking forward to him in Goodwood,” O'Brien said of Henry Longfellow. “We always thought he was a special horse based on what he did last year. We were over the moon with his run at Royal Ascot.
“If we'd got a clearer run in France, we would have known more going into Ascot, so we went into Ascot just learning about him. There's every chance he'll progress.”
“We were delighted with Opera Singer at Ascot,” he continued. “The other horse who led just messed up her pace a little bit, but we were over the moon with her.
“We were always going to step up to go to a mile and a quarter in the Qatar Nassau Stakes with her after that. We're very happy with her and everything has gone well since Ascot.
“She has an incredible pedigree and is by Justify which just makes her extra special. We think she'll be happy with the trip and track and she can probably go even further too.”
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