Kyprios To Drop Down At Curragh To Run In The Irish St Leger

Kyprios, trained by Aidan O’Brien, is set to run in the Irish St Leger at Curragh on Sunday in what is a drop-back in trip. However, O’Brien has moved quickly to suggest the decision was planned and part of the strategy laid out for the 4-year-old.

So far this season, Kyprios has beaten all the competitors by winning four races from four starts. But the O’Brien horse has also proven it has the stamina to compete over longer distances when victorious in the Ascot Gold Cup. Kyrprios also managed to rebuff the challenge of Stradivarious in the Goodwood Cup too.

The plan for Kyprios is for it to drop back to fourteen furlongs in the Irish St Leger, which could see the Galileo colt face off against sister Search For A Song. It promises to be an intriguing battle between the two, as Search For A Song is a 2x winner of the Group One Classic.

“This was always the plan, and he seems in good form since Goodwood, and we’re looking forward to it. This season the plan was always to build up to the Gold Cup, and when he won the Gold Cup, the plan was then to slowly come back in trip,” O’Brien said.

“Goodwood first back to two miles and then a mile and six for the Leger. It has always been the plan to slowly come back down in trip with him,” O’Brien added.

O’Brien saw Ryan Moore finish second at the Prix Du Moulin at Longchamp over the weekend onboard Order of Australia. Ed Walker’s Dreamloper romped to victory, with Kieran Shoemark’s mount winning by five and a half lengths. But the Group One race was marred by a fatal injury suffered by Charlie Appelby’s Coroebus, which won the English 2,000 Guineas earlier this year.

There was also disappointment in the Group One event in Germany when heavy favourite and last year’s Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe winner Torquator Tasso finished second in Grosser Preis von Baden with Frankie Dettori onboard. Interestingly, it was regular Torquator Tasso jockey Rene Piechulek who won the race, but he was riding Mendocino.

Looking ahead to the Irish St Leger, Kyprios is the odds-on favourite to win the race, and the trip back in length is sure to be beneficial on the day. But both Quickthorn and Raise You are expected to challenge, but whether they have enough to compete with the O’Brien colt is another story altogether.

Quickthorn has won its last three races with Tom Marquand onboard, with victories at Sandown, Longchamp and York. Raise You appeared after a fifty-seven-day break at Curragh last month, winning by 2L over 1m6f. So, both horses have the credentials, but Kyprious is a cut above and should romp home clear of any chasing rivals for O’Brien before stepping back up in trip for future races.