With the 4-6 favourite Kyprios in pursuit, the Roger Varian-trained G1 St Leger hero had to keep it up but he kept answering David Egan to beat the Ballydoyle star by 3 1/2 lengths, with Dawn Rising (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) 2 3/4 lengths away in third. The field had been cut to four following the withdrawal of Emily Dickinson (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), but what this renewal lost in numbers it made up for in terms of quality with the market confidence in Kyprios notable.

For Egan, the win was especially important given his connection to the area. “I had my first Classic winner last year, but to do it where I grew up at Osborne Lodge, which is at the five-furlong pole, means a lot,” he said. “It's what dreams are made of and for all the team connected with the horse. My first main job was riding out for Willie McCreery, who I saw today, and he was a great man to learn from and gave me a lot of experience and taught me a lot. He has a tendency to miss the break, but the race went so smooth, he was a race-fit horse today and was as tough as nails.”

Eldar Eldarov, who had earned TDN Rising Star status on his debut at Nottingham in October 2021, also won the G2 Queen's Vase last June but with three of his four outings after the St Leger seeing him finish out of the frame there were the beginnings of doubts as to whether he was going the wrong way. Varian was relieved, but unwilling to accept that he had been disappointing this year. “He's run some great races in defeat this year and it's nice to win two Legers,” he said. “He's entered up in France on Arc weekend and there is the two-mile race at Ascot. He seems to be really best at a mile and six furlongs, but there aren't too many of those races around. He deserves to run one more time this year and it's most likely Ascot.”

Aidan O'Brien said of Kyprios, “A lot of people have done a lot of work to get him to here–all of the vets have done incredible work to get him back. We didn't think we would ever see this day, so to have him back and be happy and for Ryan to be happy is something. He's going to come on a lot and Ascot looks lovely for him. He will have a nice bit of time before now and then and will love going round there. It would be great to see him come back to what he was and this was a great comeback run.”

Proper performance!

Eldar Eldarov, expertly trained by @varianstable, secures a memorable St Leger double @curraghrace .

Last season's Doncaster hero puts Kyprios, who had been off the track for 344 days, firmly to the sword under @DavidEgan99 pic.twitter.com/7GOJyLhSLv

— Racing TV (@RacingTV) September 10, 2023

Pedigree Notes

Putting the icing on the cake for Dubawi on the afternoon, Eldar Eldarov hails from a family of Kirsten Rausing's finest performers. Out of the Listed Prix de Liancourt winner All At Sea, whose first foal was the listed-placed A La Voile (GB) (Invincible Spirit {Ire}) and fourth is this year's G3 Gallinule S. third Kingswood (GB) (Roaring Lion). The second dam is the three-times group 1-winning Albanova (GB) (Alzao), responsible for the G3 Dubai Duty Free Legacy Cup winner Algometer (GB) (Archipenko), the Listed Stand Cup S. scorer Alignak (GB) by the Sea The Stars's son Sea The Moon (Ger) and the listed winner Alwilda (GB) (Hernando {Fr}).

Alwilda has made her name by producing the six-times group 1-winning Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe heroine Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}), while the listed-winning third dam Alouette (GB) (Darshaan {GB}) also produced Albanova's dual G1 Champion S.-winning full-sister Alborada (GB) whose descendants include the G2 City of York S. winner Shine So Bright (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) and the G1 British Champions Fillies & Mares S. and G1 Yorkshire Oaks runner-up Albaflora (GB) (Muhaarar {GB}).

All At Sea is also connected to the G1 Prix Royal-Oak heroine Allegretto (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}), Alzao's G2 Nassau S. winner Last Second (Ire) who is in turn the dam of the G1 Poule d'Essai des Poulians-winning sire Aussie Rules, as well as the pair of Sadler's Wells group 1 winners Yesterday (Ire) and Quarter Moon (Ire). Her unraced 2-year-old filly by Study of Man (Ire) is named A La Belle Etoile (Ire), she has a yearling colt by Lope De Vega (Ire) bought as a foal for 300,000gns by Brooklyn Bloodstock at Tatts December who is due to sell at next month's Tatts Book 1 Sale, and a filly foal again by Study Of Man.

Sunday, Curragh, Ireland
COMER GROUP INTERNATIONAL IRISH ST LEGER-G1, €600,000, Curragh, 9-10, 3yo/up, 14fT, 3:01.72, g/y.
1–ELDAR ELDAROV (GB), 137, c, 4, by Dubawi (Ire)
     1st Dam: All At Sea (GB) (MSW-Fr, $133,622), by Sea The Stars (Ire)
     2nd Dam: Albanova (GB), by Alzao
     3rd Dam: Alouette (GB), by Darshaan (GB)
TDN Rising Star. (£110,000 Ylg '20 GOFOR; £480,000 2yo '21 ARQDEA). O-KHK Racing Ltd; B-Miss K Rausing (GB); T-Roger Varian; J-David Egan. €348,000. Lifetime Record: G1SW-Eng, 10-5-1-0, $1,202,836. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree, or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
2–Kyprios (Ire), 137, h, 5, Galileo (Ire)–Polished Gem (Ire), by Danehill. O-Moyglare/Magnier/Tabor/Smith/Westerberg; B-Moyglare Stud Farm Ltd (IRE); T-Aidan O'Brien. €120,000.
3–Dawn Rising (Ire), 137, g, 6, Galileo (Ire)–Devoted To You (Ire), by Danehill Dancer (Ire).
1ST G1 BLACK TYPE. O-J P McManus; B-Barronstown Stud (IRE); T-Joseph O'Brien. €60,000.
Margins: 3HF, 2 3/4, 5. Odds: 3.20, 0.67, 3.50.
Also Ran: Yashin (Ire). Scratched: Emily Dickinson (Ire).

The post Curragh Group 1 Double For Dubawi As Eldar Eldarov Takes The Irish Leger appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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“The target for him is to go to the Irish St Leger and that is very much still on the cards at the moment,” said Chris Wall, racing manager for owners KHK Racing Ltd. “He's grand and it's all systems go for that.”

The 4-year-old was originally slated to contest the G3 St Leger trial earlier this month, however, was subsequently declared a non-runner after not travelling well.

“We don't know why because he's never had that problem before,” he explained. “He got upset travelling and they thought rather than carry on to Ireland they would bring him home. I think they had got into north Wales just beyond Chester.

“The worry was if you put him on the ferry and it deteriorated into something like colic then you are in the middle of the sea and you can't do anything about it. He just got his knickers in a twist about something so they brought him home.”

Trained by Roger Varian, Eldar Eldarov was second in his seasonal debut in the G2 Yorkshire Cup S. in May before finishing seventh in the G1 Ascot Gold Cup the following month. Most recently, he was fourth in the G1 Goodwood Cup S. on Aug. 1.

Varian indicated that KHK Racing-owned Sakheer (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}), the winner of last fall's G2 Mill Reef S., is likely to resurface later this fall in the QIPCO British Champions Sprint Oct. 21. He was last seen finishing 13th in the G1 Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot June 23.

“He's had a few niggly things after Ascot, but he's back in work and we're hoping to run him in something this autumn,” said Wall. “I don't think he'll be ready for the Haydock [Betfair Sprint Cup Sept. 9], that's not far away now so he won't make that. But we hope we might have him back for a run perhaps in the Champions Sprint and we'll go from there.

“It's been one of those years really where things haven't quite gone his way, but we hope we can get him back on track and if not we'll have to hope things go right for him next year instead.”

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“This opportunity gives me the chance to experience another style of racing,” he said. “I've never ridden trackwork with times as well, so that's an experience and something you can obviously take across to help you when you're race riding. Racing in Australia is very tactical so having some experience down here will give me a few more tools in my toolbox. You can never learn enough.”

Mike Sheehy's apprenticeship with Joseph O'Brien ended earlier this year with 104 wins and he will be based at Warwick Farm with the Ciaron Maher and David Eustace stables.

“I'm only young and I always wanted to spend a winter away from Ireland to help with my learning,” Sheehy said. “[Joseph O'Brien] advised me to come down to Australia. There have been a few riders from Ireland and England that have come to Australia, been successful and then gone back home more polished riders. Everyone tells me riding in Australia will sharpen me up as a jockey.”

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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 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.

Gold Cup
Goodwood Cup
Irish St Leger

It'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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“All the signs are there with his pedigree that this distance will suit, so we are not lacking confidence with the trip,” Charlie Appleby said. “The only blip he's had on his page was in the Chester Vase. People might say was that the trip and ground at the time, but I don't think it was either. I just think he'd run a good, solid race at the Craven meeting a few weeks earlier and he's best when he's fresh. That's why after the Gordon S. we always wanted to come straight here.”

Watch Out!

For those who believe that New London is home and hosed, they would be well-served to remember that this is a Classic that sometimes likes to bowl a googly as they say in Britain, or throw a curveball as they do in the seaport city in Connecticut after which the favourite is named. While the last five winners have been largely predictable, it was only in 2016 that the 22-1 outsider Harbour Law (GB) (Lawman {Fr}) benefitted as the unthinkable happened and Seamie Heffernan was unshipped from the 4-6 favourite Idaho (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}). A year before, Simple Verse (Ire) (Duke Of Marmalade {Ire}) won it, lost in the stewards' room and was given it back again while this is the 10-year anniversary of the 25-1 shot Encke (Kingmambo), who did for the Triple Crown dream of Camelot (GB) (Montjeu {Ire}). There is plenty to fear not only from the fates but also from KHK Racing Ltd's G2 Queen's Vase-winning 'TDN Rising Star' Eldar Eldarov (GB) (Dubawi {Ire}), Go Bloodstock and Partners' Derby runner-up Hoo Ya Mal (GB) (Territories {Ire}) and the still-promising and possibly underestimated filly Emily Dickinson (Ire) (Dubawi {Ire}), the sole representative from Ballydoyle no less.

Blink And You'll Miss It

The first of six Group 1 contests across Britain, Ireland and France on Sunday takes place on the talent-rich Curragh card, with Highfield Princess (Fr) (Night Of Thunder {Ire}) looking to extend her dominance on the sprinting division having completed the taxing double of the 6 1/2-furlong G1 Prix Maurice de Gheest and five-furlong G1 Nunthorpe S. in the Al Basti Equiworld, Dubai Flying Five S. Ordinarily, the switch from York's flat track and lively surface to this stiff test on yielding going would be a concern for lesser mortals but this is a mare that is proven in all spheres. Stripping sprinting back to the bare basics of how quickly the furlongs can be ticked off from pillar-to-post, she has risen from unlikely beginnings to become a true force of nature and the sporting nature of connections is to be cherished. With no constraints on her versatility, it is up to this cast which includes last year's one-two Romantic Proposal (Ire) (Raven's Pass) and A Case Of You (Ire) (Hot Streak {Ire}) to make it as tough for her as possible.

Meditate On That

Aidan O'Brien has won 13 of the 21 juvenile group races where he has had a runner in 2022 and, while Little Big Bear (Ire) (No Nay Never) is absent from Sunday's Curragh fixture, the stable remains highly likely to come up with at least one able substitute. It is the G1 Goffs Vincent O'Brien National S. which has to deal with Little Big Bear's temporary void, but there is still a keen sense of excitement in the air where fellow 'TDN Rising Star' Aesop's Fables (Ire) (No Nay Never) is concerned. How good he is remains to be seen, but he appeared to win the course-and-distance G2 Futurity S. Aug. 20 on ability alone. This slightly different test on different ground, which sees Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum's July 26 G2 Vintage S. winner Marbaan (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}) pitched in, will give a truer gauge. Ballydoyle's G2 Debutante S. and G3 Albany S. scorer Meditate (Ire) (No Nay Never) appears to have been around a lot longer due to her fine blend of obstinacy and class and she is an imposing figurehead for her unrivalled yard in the G1 Moyglare Stud S. For all the raw material of the favourite, there will nonetheless be a few disappointed members of The Aga Khan's operation and the Dermot Weld stable if the 'TDN Rising Star' Tahiyra (Ire) (Siyouni {Fr}), the wildflower that her trainer planted at Galway July 26, does not impose herself on this contest at the business end.

His True Measure

Denied his ideal ground all summer, Trueshan (Fr) (Planteur {Ire}) finally has all in his favour as he takes centre stage in what would have been Friday's headlining G2 Coral Doncaster Cup. Eventually tried on a fast surface when third defending his title in the G1 Goodwood Cup July 26, Alan King's flag-bearer lost nothing in defeat there having already achieved a remarkable feat by registering a weight-carrying record in Newcastle's Northumberland Plate June 25. While his stature as staying division leader is currently intact despite the inevitable withdrawals that pepper his record, it has seemed that every time he has been either forced out of competition or undermined by the dry spell there has been one more challenger to his assumed title.

Rapid Response

While the ball is back in Trueshan's court on Town Moor, it may only be so for an hour and a half maximum before Kyprios (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) again contests his premiership, this time in The Curragh's G1 Comer Group International Irish St Leger. Having beaten Stradivarius (Ire) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) fair and square at Goodwood following his G1 Gold Cup exploits at Royal Ascot, Ballydoyle's young buck in this category now has to do it on the easier ground that his chief British foe relishes, which is not even to mention the upwardly-mobile Quickthorn (GB) (Nathaniel {Ire}) who has emerged front and centre since the last time that Moyglare's colourbearer was viewed. With the exception of the Haggas challenger Hamish (GB) (Motivator {GB}), who has a habit of springing up to remind everyone how talented he is and who is fresh having been kept under wraps since his May 5 G3 Ormonde S. success, this is undeniably Kyprios's race to lose.

Coming Verry Soon

While Sunday's racing is outstanding in its own right, the ongoing daisy chain of the Flat season demands that thoughts of the future are never far away. As far as ParisLongchamp's fixture is concerned, it is all about the Arc in three weeks' time with the door still only slightly ajar for Jomara Bloodstock's remarkable Verry Elleegant (NZ) (Zed {NZ}) following her flop on her French debut in Deauville's G1 Prix Jean Romanet Aug. 21. Francis-Henri Graffard was quick to forgive that effort, but it seems a long time since she was seen in her prime and she has to kick that door wide open in what is a substandard edition of this time-honoured prep, the G2 Qatar Prix Foy. Connections are convinced she can get back to the level that was still in evidence as she brought up an 11th Group 1 win in Randwick's Chipping Norton on heavy ground Feb. 26, so it's a case of over to you…

Arc Angels?

If Verry Elleegant is indeed on the way down, the opposite is certainly true of Ballydoyle's Oaks heroine Tuesday (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) who continues her ascent towards the Arc in the G1 Qatar Prix Vermeille. With her stamina for this mile-and-a-half doubted in some parts after she had prevailed in what was a slowly-run renewal of the Epsom Classic, they were put firmly to the side as she split Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}) and La Petite Coco (Ire) (Ruler Of The World {Ire}), with the Irish Oaks winner Magical Lagoon (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) well beaten, in the Aug. 18 G1 Yorkshire Oaks. The full-sister to Minding (Ire) looks to have more stamina than her sibling at this stage and could yet prove to have as much class. Fellow 3-year-old La Parisienne (Fr) (Zarak {Fr}) shook up Nashwa (GB) (Frankel {GB}) in the G1 Prix de Diane at Chantilly June 19 and is in deep again, but Peter R Bradley III's colour-bearer still carries the dream. That is also true of another big Arc player who headlines the G2 Qatar Prix Niel in the May 29 G1 Tokyo Yushun hero Do Deuce (Jpn) (Heart's Cry {Jpn}). Yutaka Take heads back to Paris to reignite yet another Japanese fire ahead of the one the nation wants so badly next month.

More Champagne Moments

The afternoon's frantic group-race action begins with the G2 Coral Champagne S. at Doncaster, which is some appetiser given that is one of Britain's key juvenile staging posts en route to the following year's Classics. Bizarrely or not, given your take on the malnourished state of field sizes in this country this season, just three turn up but they are all worthy and make for a fascinating if tactical conundrum. William Buick and Frankie Dettori will have to ponder how they play the hands of their Aug. 20 G3 Solario S. winner Silver Knott (GB) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) and Aug. 17 G3 Acomb S. scorer Chaldean (GB) (Frankel {GB}) respectively, but the latter looked s strong stayer at this seven-furlong trip at York so expect the Juddmonte silks to be there to be shot at. There is also a heady clash just over an hour later between Middleham Park Racing's Aug. 19 G1 Nunthorpe S. runner-up The Platinum Queen (Ire) (Cotai Glory {GB}) and Rockcliffe Stud's July 27 G3 Molecomb S. scorer Trillium (GB) (No Nay Never) in the rescheduled five-furlong G2 Wainwright Flying Childers S. The third of Doncaster's Group 2s, the Cazoo Park S., features Marc Chan's accomplished 'TDN Rising Star' Kinross (GB) (Kingman {GB}) with that man Frankie again, flying dismount at the ready.

Click here for the fields.

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