Kyprios carves place in Gold Cup historical past with sensational Ascot comeback
Kyprios became only the third horse in 220 years to regain the Gold Cup after a pulsating victory at Royal Ascot on Thursday.
The 2022 winner missed the majority of last year through a joint infection many did not think he would survive, but nursed back to health by trainer Aidan O’Brien the six-year-old came out best here in an epic tussle up the straight with his old foe, Trawlerman.
For much of this battle there was nothing in it except a certain inevitability that the 11-10 favourite would come out on top and Ryan Moore must have felt the same way for he barely went for his stick before the chestnut with a white blaze finished a length up with his ears pricked.
If Kyprios has a super power, it must be his mind, which is so important in a race like the Gold Cup, an extreme distance over which the elite stayers rarely race. Going past the post with a circuit to run, Moore had his reins in loops while nearly every other jockey’s reins were taut like fishing lines, a sure giveaway their mounts were expending energy while Kyprios conserved his.
Victory put Kyprios into a very select group, following Anticipation (1816 and 1819) and Kayf Tara (1998 and 2000) in returning to regain their titles.
It is now something of a standing joke how O’Brien can reel off a long list of the first names of people who have contributed towards a big winner. “No horse has been scanned and X-rayed more in his life than this horse” the trainer said, as his name-checking extended to most of the population of Tipperary.
ITV’s Matt Chapman did his tactful best to intervene but O’Brien continued: “Sorry, I’ve forgotten John, Jack and Gerry.”
On Kyprios’s amazing return, O’Brien added: “I’d say it is millions to one. It was really impossible to come back from what he came back from. At one stage we weren’t sure he would live. This horse has got back to the very top level, which is just incredible.
“From there it was getting him to stand, and then to walk, then to trot, then teaching him how to canter again, because he had to move all his body in different ways again. It’s unbelievable really. He always had the most incredible mind, that was always his power, his mind. Nothing is impossible when you see that.”
Ryan Moore poses with the Gold Cup
Credit: Getty Images/Tom Dulat
The trainer said Moore was getting better every year. Earlier the jockey passed Frankie Dettori’s Royal Ascot total of 81 winners when O’Brien’s Port Fairy became his 82nd in the Ribblesdale. He now stands on 83 with clear sight of Lester Piggott’s record (116) in front of him.
“I said to Aidan that he’s the class horse in the race and he stays the best, so I’ve just got to get it right,” explained Moore. “I didn’t get it quite right but he still won. He’s an unbelievable horse.”
About Dettori’s record he added: “I wouldn’t have even given a thought, to be honest. Every day, it’s on to the next one. And the only reason I’m riding that amount of winners is I’ve ridden for the two most successful trainers in the history of Ascot – Aidan and Sir Michael Stoute. It’s all about the horses – I’m just lucky to be riding them.
“I remember Frankie when I was a kid, riding for my grandad at Brighton. He’s always been the best in my eyes.”
Day three at Royal Ascot: As it happened…
Source: telegraph.co.uk
