Kyprios’ brilliance on full display in win at the Curragh

In what is proving to be an incredible season, the Aidan O’Brien-trained Kyprios continued his exceptional form with a win in the Irish St Leger earlier this month. The four-year-old’s 2022 campaign prior to his win at the Curragh includes victories at Navan, Leopardstown, Glorious Goodwood, and in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.

Kyprios entered the race as the prohibitive Paddy Power racing odds favourite, and he justified those odds to win by three quarters of a length from Hamish.

As the race began, jockey Ryan Moore settled in nicely into third position. As the field made their push around the final bend and into the straight – in true Kyprios fashion – the colt managed to separate himself from the pack with a little more than two furlongs remaining.

While Hamish put forth a valiant challenge over the final stage of the race, Kyprios’ staying power proved too great as he held off William Haggas’ six-year-old.

“He’s very tough. He’s very relaxed and is always only in the gear you want. Ryan gave him a great ride,” O’Brien said.

“He’s very easy to deal with and it leaves him with a lot of options. He was probably extra lazy today and 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 because he is a unique horse.”

As a result of his dominant triumph in Ireland, attention now turns to where and when he will saddle up next. Initial reports suggest he will potentially take part in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe at ParisLongchamp in October – and provided the kind of runs he has displayed over the past 12 months – he would be in with a real shot at taking home the chocolates.

When asked if a trip to Paris was on the agenda, O’Brien was reluctant to provide a definitive answer.

“We’ll see what happens, what everyone thinks, and see what way the ground is going to be,” he said.

“He is only a four-year-old so for a stayer he is very young to have done what he has done already. We saw today that he just does the minimum, so it’s very hard to know how much is in there really.”

While Kyprios is establishing himself as one of the top stayers in the UK & Ireland today, there are plenty of fans and pundits who are eager to see him test his ability against a supremely talented international field.

That is what the Arc will offer, and at the time of writing, the latest racing predictions have Kyprios middle of the pack, with the four-year-old demanding odds of 25/1 in the ante-post betting odds. Kyprios’ stablemate Luxembourgis the short favourite to take out the Arc at odds of 3/1 – who is coming off impressive victories at the Curragh and in the Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown.