Kyprios© Photo Healy Racing
Aidan O’Brien is preparing to head to the Qatar Goodwood Festival with a team of horses headed by his star stayer Kyprios, although the Ballydoyle trainer has sounded a slight warning note over ground conditions.
The chestnut has returned this year in perfect form, reclaiming the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot on his most recent start in a remarkable comeback considering how close he came to losing his life.
It was a joint infection that stopped his career in its tracks and the arduous rehabilitation process only made victory sweeter when the horse came back having lost none of his ability.
Kyprios was the winner of the Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup in 2022 when looking to be the new dominant stayer on the scene, and now he is heading back to the Sussex Downs to try to reclaim the same prize.
“Kyprios is lazy in his work but we’re very happy with him. Everything has gone well since Ascot. We are very happy with him,” said O’Brien.
“He’s a very special horse and has a lot of class. He has a lot more class than most people think.
“He does stay, but he’d have no problem being a Group horse over one mile and two furlongs.
“As he goes up in distance, he just gets better. Those good stayers are very rare.
“When you go to those distances, very few horses get them really, but he has the class and gets the trip as well.”
Stablemate Point Lonsdale could either join or replace Kyprios in the race depending on conditions, with O’Brien adding: “Point Lonsdale could possibly join him. We had it in our minds that if the ground was very fast at Goodwood, then we’d have to think about whether we want to risk Kyprios.
“Hopefully he will run, but even if he didn’t Point Lonsdale is going to be an unbelievable sub. He handles fast ground and shows he gets one mile and seven furlongs well. He might get two miles as well.
“He’s a horse with a lot of class and we saw in his last run he wasn’t beaten far in a Group One over one mile and four furlongs. He’s a lovely horse with a great mind.”
The Qatar Sussex Stakes looks set to be a rematch of the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot as Rosallion, Henry Longfellow and Notable Speech all meet again.
O’Brien has claimed the race six times and is one win away from tying Sir Henry Cecil’s record of seven wins in the one-mile feature.
Henry Longfellow was the runner-up at the Royal meeting and his trainer is looking forward to seeing him renew his rivalry with the best horses in the division at Goodwood.
“We always thought he was a special horse based on what he did last year,” he said.
“We were over the moon with his run at Royal Ascot. If we’d got a clearer run in France we would have known more going into Ascot, so we went into Ascot just learning about him. There’s every chance he’ll progress.”
Opera Singer is O’Brien’s hope for the Qatar Nassau Stakes after her second-placed run behind the superb Porta Fortuna in the Coronation Stakes at Royal Ascot.
“We were delighted with Opera Singer at Ascot. The other horse who led just messed up her pace a little bit but we were over the moon with her,” he said of the filly.
“We were always going to step up to a mile and two furlongs in the Qatar Nassau Stakes with her after that. We’re very happy with her and everything has gone well since Ascot.”
The unbeaten Jan Brueghel is set to run in the Group Three John Pearce Racing Gordon Stakes, after which he could contest in the final British Classic of the season in the St Leger at Doncaster in September.
“The plan with Jan Brueghel is the Gordon Stakes. We always thought he was going to stay and could stay further,” O’Brien said.
“We’re very happy with him. He’s a very relaxed and laid-back horse who has had two lovely runs this year. We thought this would fit into his programme well.”
The Lillie Langtry trophy has never made its way back to Ballydoyle but O’Brien is hoping Grateful can change that when she flies the flag for the stable in the Group Two.
“She’s a Galileo filly and she’s the last of the Galileo’s out of Tepin. She has the most incredible pedigree,” he said.
“We were delighted with her last time when she stepped up in distance. She was still green when she got to the front. Ronan Whelan rode her and thought she would come forward again.”
