By Brian Sheerin
Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore sugarcoated a wonderful Longines Irish Champions Weekend by bagging the G1 Irish St Leger with the Moyglare Stud-owned Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}).
Sent to post a warm favourite at odds of 8-11, Kyprios found generously on the front end to hold off the determined challenge of Hamish (GB) (Motivator {GB}) and win by less than a length.
Kyprios has gone from strength to strength this season, with his Irish St Leger success coming off the back of top level triumphs in the Gold Cup at Ascot and the Goodwood Cup.
Search For A Song (Ire), a sister of the winner and a former dual Irish St Leger winner herself, ran a gallant race in third to lead home a one-three for Moyglare on an afternoon that the stud celebrated the 50th running of the Moyglare Stud S.
But the day belonged to Kyprios. He may not do anything fancy but his win on Sunday stretched his unbeaten record this season to five and O'Brien hailed him as everything you want in a stayer.
The champion trainer said, “He's very tough. He's very relaxed. He's always only in the gear that you want. Ryan gave him a great ride.
“He's a horse that gets a trip but he's a lot of class and he's very relaxed, which is a massive help. It helps him to get the trip. He's very brave, very clear-winded, good mover and a great mind. It's a pleasure to have him.”
On future plans, O'Brien added, “It'll depend on what everyone will want to do with him and it was great Eva [Maria Bucher-Haefner] was here to see him today. He's very easy to deal with and it leaves him with a lot of options.
“He was extra lazy today. Maybe it was the soft ground that made him a little bit more laboured. He could go back to a mile and a half but obviously we would love to have him around for the Gold Cup for the coming years. He is a unique horse really.
“We'll see what everybody thinks and what way the ground is going to be [in ParisLongchamp for the Arc]. He is only four and for a stayer he's very young. As we saw today, he only does the minimum so it's very hard to know what's in there really.”
Pedigree Notes
Kyprios hails from an outstanding Moyglare family. Polished Gem (Ire) (Danehill), the dam of Kyprios and Search For A Song, has also produced a G1 Prince Of Wales's S. winner in Free Eagle (Ire) as well as five other black-type horses. The second dam is the G1 Irish 1000 Guineas heroine Trusted Partner (Affirmed), while the Talking Picture (Speak John), the third dam of the winner was a dual Grade I winner Stateside to go along with a juvenile fillies' championship there.
Sunday, The Curragh, Ireland
COMER GROUP INTERNATIONAL IRISH ST LEGER-G1, €500,000, The Curragh, 9-11, 3yo/up, 14fT, 3:04.67, yl.
1–KYPRIOS (IRE), 137, c, 4, by Galileo (Ire)
1st Dam: Polished Gem (Ire) (Broodmare Of The
Year-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.
€290,000. Lifetime Record: MG1SW-Eng, 9-7-0-0, $1,068,657.
Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the
free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Hamish (GB), 137, g, 6, Motivator (GB)–Tweed (GB), by
Sakhee. 1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. O-B Haggas; B-J B Haggas (GB);
T-William Haggas. €100,000.
3–Search For A Song (Ire), 134, m, 6, Galileo (Ire)–Polished Gem
(Ire), by Danehill. O/B-Moyglare Stud Farm, Ltd (IRE);
T-Dermot Weld. €50,000.
Margins: 3/4, 7, NK. Odds: 0.73, 5.00, 16.00.
Also Ran: Rosscarbery (Ger), Raise You (Ire), Princess Zoe (Ger), Shanroe (GB), Camorra (Ire), Jason The Militant (Ire), Seattle Creek (GB), Manu Et Corde (Ire). VIDEO.
Gold Cup
Goodwood Cup
Irish St LegerIt's been some season for @Ballydoyle's Kyprios, who scores in the Irish St Leger at the @curraghrace!pic.twitter.com/hTZdEPnBpi
— Sporting Life Racing (@SportingLife) September 11, 2022
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