Aidan O’Brien hails ‘stylish’ Kyprios after Long Distance Cup triumph

Aidan O’Brien stopped short of calling Kyprios his family pet but nobody would have blamed if he did. Horses come and go at Ballydoyle but this beautiful chestnut has stayed the distance and his trainer is all the happier for it.

‘He was an incredible horse before he got injured but I didn’t think he’d come back,’ said O’Brien. ‘It was incredible that he came back. Look, he’s just very special to all of us. He lives outside our back door and we all think the world of him.’

And who can blame him? Kyprios is six years old now and, ordinarily, should be at stud but this campaign has shown him to be better than ever. He proved that again at Ascot on QIPCO Champions Day, bounding away with The Long Distance Cup, his seventh win from starts this season.

Incredibly, he was providing O’Brien with his first winner at this particular meeting since 2019 – this, if ever there was one, was a statistic that needed triple-checking – and there was never a point during the course of the Group Two over two miles that he looked like he would be beaten.

‘It worked out very smoothly and I was always happy,’ said jockey Ryan Moore. ‘Good horses, they make it smooth.’

Trainer Aidan O’Brien was full of praise for Kyprios after his Long Distance Cup victory 

Trawlerman and Sweet William, the pair trained by John Gosden, tried to go with Kyprios up Ascot’s straight but Moore kept moving his arms and his partner kept lengthening his stride, gradually breaking the hearts of his pursuers. How he was allowed to go off 8/11 was a mystery.

‘If they want to walk, he’ll walk,’ said O’Brien. ‘If they want to go fast, he’ll stay past them. He didn’t have much of a race there, he cantered around. It was the same after France. He didn’t have much of a race there, either. Ever since France, all he has done is put on weight. He’s just incredibly classy.’

He really is. When you think of the superstars O’Brien has trained, it’s remarkable to think none have won more Group Ones than Kyprios (eight), particularly so when you factor in the infection he contracted last year that left those closest to him wondering whether he would survive.

‘He’s so laidback, his blood doesn’t get up until after the race,’ said O’Brien. ‘The plan was to come here, give him the winter off, then give him two trials before the Gold Cup next year. So that’s what we are working for – we will get through the winter and try to come back here for the Gold Cup.’

O’Brien’s other runners were out of luck on the card, including Los Angeles in a messy renewal of the QIPCO Champion Stakes won by 40/1 shot Anmaat for Jim Crowley and Owen Burrows, but it was still a memorable day as he went home with the Champion Trainer trophy.

Kyprios, ridden by Ryan Moore, made it seven wins from seven starts on Saturday at Ascot

You could argue there haven’t been many better Champions Days here, too. Ascot was bouncing and the crowd were treated to some spectacular performances, starting with the outstanding Kyprios, who once again broke the hearts of his rivals in the Long Distance Cup with relentless galloping.

Kind Of Blue was a hugely important winner for Qatari powerhouse Wathnan Racing in the Champion Sprint and a popular one, also, for trainer James Fanshawe’s who toasted a first Group One success since 2020. The colt is going places.

Most spectacular of all, however, was Charyn, whose display in the Queen Elizabeth II Stakes emphatically ended the argument about who is the Champion Miler, the grey powering through the squashy conditions to win comprehensively.

‘Was there a moment when I ever thought I’d lose,’ jockey Silvestre De Sousa asked. ‘Never. He’s a dream horse. I should have won on him the last time out in France but he made up 15 lengths in the straight that day. I hope it’s not too long before I get to sit on another like him.’