Two-time Ascot Gold Cup winner Kyprios is forced into shock retirement - less than a month before showpiece race
Aidan O'Brien has been forced to say goodbye to the most successful flat horse of his career after Kyprios was retired through injury.
Kyprios had been 6/4 favourite to win the Ascot Gold Cup for third time but after his warm up race, at Leopardstown on May 16, the seven-year-old left the paddock moving gingerly and it subsequently emerged he had aggravated an old problem.
Given his value to joint-owners Coolmore and Moyglare Stud, the decision was made to draw stumps on one of the greatest stayers of the modern era to preserve him for a life in the breeding sheds – as a ten-time Group One winner, there will be no shortage of interest.
That statistic of double figure successes at the highest level elevated Kyprios to a level no other flat racer has managed during O'Brien's career at Ballydoyle; the seven-year-old's consistency and durability were extraordinary, not least as he overcame an issue in 2022 that threatened his life.
'Kyprios was just the most incredible horse,' said O'Brien. 'Obviously, we had to be ultra-respectful of him. When he was a little bit sore after his run at Leopardstown, we were always not going to take any risks with him. Everybody felt the same way.
'It was his attitude combined with his ability to stay. Then, it was the class he had to go along with those things. He was an incredibly sound horse, and his mind was absolute concrete, too. He was laid-back all his life, that's the way he was naturally.'
He was laid-back but he also had a ferocious will to win and his campaign in 2024 will go down as one of the best there has ever been, as he won seven consecutive races, including the Ascot Gold Cup (for a second time), the Goodwood Cup and Longchamp's Prix Du Cadran.
His last success in The Saval Beg Stakes, achieved at odds of 1/14, highlighted his superiority in the staying division and the memorable aspect of that balmy evening was of bookmakers in the ring reporting that none of them had taken a single penny as racegoers wanted to admire him.
Illinois, a winner at Chester's May meeting, is the horse likely to step forward from O'Brien's squad to run in the Gold Cup but there is no question the chestnut with the big white face's absence will be keenly felt in Tipperary by all who have been associated with Kyprios.
'You do get attached to horses like him because they have been around for such a long time,' said O'Brien, who did not bat away suggestions that Kyprios deserved to be mentioned in the same breath as his four-time Gold Cup winner Yeats. 'He's just been so very special.'
Before Ascot comes into view, Epsom will be on O'Brien's mind and it is looking increasingly likely that Delacroix, who has had a similar preparation to Galileo and High Chaparral, will be the stable's number one contender for the Betfred Derby, ahead of stablemate The Lion In Winter.
'It would be very difficult for Ryan (Moore) not to ride him,' said O'Brien. 'Delacroix is really well and his two trials went perfectly. Everything is going to plan. He's big and powerful and is maturing well. We're all very happy.'
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