Kyprios confirmed himself as the new king of the staying division when edging out Stradivarius in a stellar renewal of the G1 Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup, in which the big guns came to the fore.
Kyprios, sent off a 6-4 favorite to follow up his Gold Cup success, was always well-placed under Ryan Moore. The son of Galileo was in pole position throughout the closing stages and gamely held off valiant four-time victor Stradivarius (9/2) by a neck in a thrilling finish, with last year's winner Trueshan (2/1) a just over a length further back in third.
It was a third win in the race for trainer Aidan O'Brien, who had previously taken the spoils with the outstanding Yeats in 2006 and 2008.
O'Brien said: “Kyprios is a great horse. Ryan gave him a beautiful ride and he is only ever in the gear that you want him. He is always keeping plenty and is a horse that loves a battle.
“He is lazy and if you want him to stay in first gear, he will stay in first gear and not go into second gear unless you want him. That is the way he is and the way he has always been. He saves everything and is very professional. I'd say there's a lot more to come. He loves racing, is easy on himself and the plan from here is to go to the Irish St Leger.
“He has a lot of class, a lot of quality. He has run over two and a half miles at Royal Ascot and two miles today, but we would have had no problem starting him over a mile and a quarter at the start of the year, as he has that real pace. However, you don't see it as he doesn't show it unless you really want it. It's great to have him. Those type of horses are very special – when you have a horse who stays like that and has that class.”
Moore said: “Kyprios has done nothing wrong this year. Today was only his eighth race and he is only doing what he has to do. It was a steadily-run race and he was in front a long way out. He was just waiting. I always feel that I'm not going to the bottom of him.
“He is a proper Group One horse and Aidan has always had a lot of belief in the horse. At the start of the year, he was saying what he thought he could do, so all credit to him and the team at home for getting him back.
“Kyprios was always held in high regard. He is a full-brother to Irish St Leger winner Search For A Song, who is a lovely filly. He won his first start at three and then got beat in the Derby Trial. We were disappointed but it turned out to be a good Derby Trial. I was not on him in the Queen's Vase [when he went under the stalls], but he was well fancied that day. It was just one of those things. He has a great attitude and is not a horse with any badness in him.
“Yeats was a machine. This horse won a Gold Cup at four and I think there's more to come. We don't know where we'll end up yet. You know how good Trueshan is and Stradivarius has been, and the fourth horse Coltrane is improving. I think as far as Goodwood Cups go, it was a very strong race.”
Stradivarius' owner-breeder Bjorn Nielsen said: “I was happy with the way Stradivarius ran. I thought half a furlong out he was potentially in front, although it was hard to tell from the angle. Stradivarius and Kyprios were a fair way apart on the racecourse and I don't know if it was competitive enough for him. If he had been upsides, it might have been a different story.
“Andrea [Atzeni] said he was following Kyprios through and he felt like he was going to do him for toe and then he got the bump from Trueshan, which forced him inside. He was in a pocket, but they had the cutaway today so he could go up the inside. When he made his run, I wasn't sure if he would get up.
“We are not going to say goodbye, not when he is at the top of his game and ran like that today. He has still run in the last year or two like he has his enthusiasm. There is no point stopping him in the middle of the season. This is the best Goodwood Cup – it was lined up to be a tremendous race and going into this race today I thought he could win or finish third or fourth. He has run within a head of the Gold Cup winner. I think it was a great performance. We will go on for at least one more.
“York would be on the cards for the Lonsdale and the long straight there suits him. Frankie has handled him well there and I don't know if he will ride. I need to discuss that with the trainer. I thought it was classy from Frankie to come out before the race and wish Andrea luck after all these years.”
John Gosden said of Stradivarius: “It was superb. Stradivarius was in good form before. He came back in here shouting at Trueshan, so the race didn't stress him too much.
“We had a lovely position on the inside following Kyprios and then Hollie thought the pace wasn't quick enough, so she moved and we went from the outside to the inside. Our only slight frustration is that, because of that, we had to go down the cutaway, were racing on our own and had nothing left to race with.
“Stradivarius is a wise old owl now and he knows when he gets to the front that he has done his bit. At his age, he likes something to run with and has never been a horse to go and win by far.
“He was in the first three in the Gold Cup and won the Yorkshire Cup, so he can still compete at this level. It's just that he is an eight-year-old entire. If he were a gelding, we wouldn't be having this discussion.
“Stradivarius will tell us and that is the key thing. He is the most cheerful horse to come and meet every morning. He comes out playing and shouting, he is a great character. If anyone has the blues, he will soon kick them out of you.”
Andrea Atzeni said: “Stradivarius ran his heart out. The race went quite smoothly and I followed Kyprios. We went a nice pace and four out Trueshan arrived on my outside, but it was a long way from home and I didn't want to wheel him out and get racing early.
“I made my challenge in the middle of the track and the winner just went away from us. He got a little lonely on his own, but he ran to the line like a champion and you can't take that away from him. There are not many like him.”
Alan King said of Trueshan: “Not happy not to have won, but it was a hell of a performance. It was a proper Goodwood Cup. I think the ground [might have led to the defeat], but I was happy to run and have no regrets. We know he is a better horse on soft but there is no disgrace today.”
3.35pm Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup (Group 1) (British Champions Series)
1 Kyprios (Moyglare, Magnier, Tabor, Smith, Westerberg) Aidan O'Brien IRE 4-9-11 Ryan Moore 6/4F
2 Stradivarius (Bjorn Nielsen) John & Thady Gosden 8-9-11 Andrea Atzeni 9/2
3 Trueshan (Singula Partnership) Alan King 6-9-11 Hollie Doyle 2/1
9 ran
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