By Tom Frary
All the drama involving Ballydoyle's Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}–Polished Gem {Ire}, by Danehill) hopefully seems to be firmly in the past as the monster stayer returned to the Sussex Downs for a second G1 Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup, setting a new track record to put the cherry on top. Sent up by Ryan Moore to keep tabs on the cat-and-mouse leading duo from the outset, the 8-13 favourite needed niggling at various stages to close the gap but quickly responded each time and by the time he found himself in front two out the contest was already decided.
Sent clear from there, the Moyglare homebred continued at his own high tempo to record a sixth victory at the highest level in a time over six seconds below the standard, a remarkable feat on the clock considering this great race's honour roll. The John and Thady Gosden-trained pair Sweet William (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) and Gregory (GB) (Golden Horn {GB}) followed him home, beaten four lengths and a head respectively.
“He cruised it–with that turn of foot he has it's over in the blink of an eye and every race he seems to perform, so on we go,” part-owner Michael Tabor said. “He has to be right up there with the best we've had–he ranks very high.”
Since his opening group 1 salvo in the 2022 Gold Cup, Kyprios has scaled the mountain and been deep in the valley and had his life-threatening injury finished his career he would still be remembered as one of his stable's finest stayers having won this, the Irish St Leger and the Prix du Cadran by a scarcely-believable 20 lengths. His two comeback defeats last autumn could be excused and after mastering Trawlerman (Ire) (Golden Horn {GB}) at Royal Ascot was able to stamp his authority on this affair missing his biggest rival.
Marginally quicker than the previous best time recorded in this prestigious affair by the giant Yeats (Ire), he has now officially entered a sacred realm in this category. “Kyprios an incredible horse,” O'Brien said. “All the people around him, credit to them. It is the team that makes it happen. I am so delighted for them. He's a very special horse. He has so much class, really he's going along in second gear all the time.”
“It wasn't easy for Ryan because he nearly slipped on the top bend and Ryan was always trying to gather him and help him,” he added. “An incredible ride on an incredible horse–we know he stays well but he has a lot of class. The Gold Cup is a very important race for him every year and we will mind him for that. We thought if he was okay today, we might bring him back to an Irish St Leger again. If we got him through that, we'd have him for next year.”
“We have to be respectful of him and to him, because if you saw where he came from, it's hard to believe that he is here today,” he continued. “He did find the undulations of the track a little more challenging than he did before, but I couldn't say enough great things about him. People go through very tough times in life and this horse is a perfect example of the animal side of that–we thought he couldn't come back but he did come back. So genuine, he wears his heart on his sleeve every day.”
O'Brien admitted to concerns beforehand. “He sweated a lot today and didn't stop sweating, probably because it is so warm, so we were a bit worried about that,” he explained. “He was a little different to how he normally is, so we were so relieved when it was over. He does have an eye for a filly now, which is what you would expect at his age. Between the heat and the fillies, everyone did well to get him here today and for him to do what he did.”
Moore added, “It took a while to get there, but my horse obviously stays well. It was very smooth and we've obviously done the track record. The only thing that happened was that he slipped on the top turn, then he was just on the back foot and dropped away from the horse who was going to take me into the race. He still got there with two to run going very easy and he was a bit idle in front there, but it was a tremendous performance.”
“He does save a little bit for himself, really, but when you get it out of him, he's got that speed there,” he added. “He is just very high class. This fella is very, very good. He wouldn't show you how good he is, but he's very good. I remember Aidan ringing and telling me what happened to him at the end of his good year. I never thought we would see him run again, so all credit to everyone at Ballydoyle for a massive effort. It is fun to ride him because you know he's that much better than the rest.”
John Gosden said of the second and third, “They were two solid runs behind a very good horse. Races like the Lonsdale Cup at York and Doncaster Cup will be the direction we will go. I am pleased with Gregory. He scoped perfectly going into Royal Ascot, but not perfectly coming out of it. That can happen when you have everything spot-on. Something can just come along. I don't know where Kyprios will go next. Irish St Leger? But we won't be afraid to take him on again. They all have off days, you know.”
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Pedigree Notes
Kyprios is the last foal out of Moyglare's remarkable broodmare Polished Gem (Ire) (Danehill), whose 10 progeny include an astounding eight black-type winners including Galileo's dual G1 Irish St Leger heroine Search For A Song (Ire), High Chaparral 's G1 Prince of Wales's S.-winning sire Free Eagle (Ire), the G2 British Champions Fillies & Mares S. winner Sapphire (Ire) (Medicean {GB}) and multiple group scorer Custom Cut (Ire) (Notnowcato {GB}).
Polished Gem is a daughter of Affirmed's G1 Irish 1000 Guineas heroine Trusted Partner and a full-sister to the GI Matriarch S. heroine Dress To Thrill (Ire) related to the group 1-winning juveniles Thunder Moon (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) and Vert De Grece (Ire) (Verglas {Ire}). As if all that wasn't enough, the third dam is the champion 2-year-old filly Talking Picture (Speak John) who acts as ancestress to countless stakes winners including Forgotten Rules (Ire) (Nayef) who was third in the Gold Cup.
Tuesday, Goodwood, Britain
AL SHAQAB GOODWOOD CUP-G1, £500,000, Goodwood, 7-30, 3yo/up, 16fT, 3:21.53, gd.
1–KYPRIOS (IRE), 138, h, 6, by Galileo (Ire)
1st Dam: Polished Gem (Ire), by Danehill
2nd Dam: Trusted Partner, by Affirmed
3rd Dam: Talking Picture, by Speak John
O-Moyglare/Magnier/Tabor/Smith/Westerberg; B-Moyglare Stud Farm Ltd (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien; J-Ryan Moore. £283,550. Lifetime Record: G1SW-Ire & Fr, 16-12-2-0, $2,383,247. *Full to Search For A Song (Ire), MG1SW-Ire, SW & GSP-Eng, G1SP-Fr, $1,086,486; 1/2 to Custom Cut (Ire) (Notnowcato {GB}), MGSW-Eng, MGSW-Ire, $951,925; 1/2 to Free Eagle (Ire) (High Chaparral {Ire}), G1SW-Eng, GSW & G1SP-Ire, $926,416; Full to Falcon Eight (Ire), GSW-Ire, SW-Eng, $394,361; 1/2 to Sapphire (Ire) (Medicean {GB}), GSW-Eng, MGSW & G1SP-Ire, $518,947; 1/2 to Valac (Ire) (Dark Angel {Ire}), GSW-Aus, $448,653; Full to Amma Grace (Ire), SW & GSP-Ire. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Sweet William (Ire), 138, g, 5, Sea The Stars (Ire)–Gale Force (GB), by Shirocco (Ger). O/B-Normandie Stud Ltd (IRE); T-John & Thady Gosden. £107,500.
3–Gregory (GB), 138, c, 4, Golden Horn (GB)–Gretchen (GB), by Galileo (Ire).
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. O-Wathnan Racing; B-Normandie Stud Ltd (GB); T-John & Thady Gosden. £53,800.
Margins: 4, HD, 4 1/4. Odds: 0.62, 5.50, 14.00.
Also Ran: Trueshan (Fr), Al Qareem (Ire), Coltrane (Ire). Scratched: Tashkhan (Ire).
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