'I don't think he will make the Gold Cup' - Aidan O'Brien says Kyprios and Statuette set to spend first half of season on the sidelines

Superstar stayer Kyprios is set to miss the Gold Cup at Ascot in June through injury, but Aidan O'Brien hopes Emily Dickinson can develop into a live contender for the staying showpiece at Royal Ascot in his absence.

Kyprios was the outstanding stayer of 2022, winning all six starts as a four-year-old including a vintage running of the Gold Cup. He concluded his campaign with an astonishing 20-length romp in the Prix du Cadran on Arc weekend and was expected to dominate the division again this year.

However, an infection picked up in a joint has not healed as quickly as O'Brien was hoping and the Gold Cup will come too quickly.

O'Brien said: "I don't think Kyprios is going to make the Gold Cup. He got an inner infection, inside in the joint. It's an unusual thing for it to come inside the joint. The joint had to be flushed. Then his bloods were still up after it was flushed so that meant there was further infection in the joint and they had to flush it again.

"It's like one of your own joints, sometimes it takes a while to settle down and that's where we're at with them at the moment. It happened a month ago and it's just not settling down yet. Sometimes those things can settle very quickly and sometimes they don't."

When asked who might fill the void left by Kyprios in the staying division for the first half of the season, the master trainer replied: "We were very impressed with Emily Dickinson at the Curragh on her last run. She grew another leg when we upped her to two miles. Broome will be there as well, although I'm not sure whether he will stretch out that far in trip, but we'll certainly look at Goodwood and the Irish Leger and Melbourne Cup for him. Changingoftheguard could be another, but he will start over middle distances."

Another potential Ballydoyle star who will miss the early part of the season is Statuette. The unbeaten Justify filly was a general 6-1 shot for the Qipco 1,000 Guineas but has been ruled out of the Classic by O'Brien.

He said: "Statuette has had a hold-up and I don't think she's going to make the Guineas. We're going to go gently with her. She'll be back for the second half of the season."

Meditate will now captain the Ballydoyle team in the Qipco 1,000 Guineas. She is 100-30 second favourite with Paddy Power behind 11-4 market leader Tahiyra.

Qipco 1,000 Guineas (3.40 Newmarket, May 7)

Coral: 5-2 Tahiyra, 11-4 Meditate, 12 Electric Eyes, Lezoo, 14 Dream Of Love, 16 Coppice, Mawj, 20 Novakai, 25 Beginnings, Dancing Goddess, Inner Space, Juliet Sierra, Ludmilla, Mammas Girl, Never Ending Story, Red Riding Hood, 33 bar

Ascot Gold Cup (June 22)

Coral: 9-2 Trueshan, 7 Broome, 8 Coltrane, Eldar Eldarov, Mojo Star, Subjectivist, 14 Siskany, 16 Princess Zoe, Quickthorn

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