'Unbelievable' Kyprios toughs it out once more to regain Irish St Leger crown

A year after getting turned over at prohibitive odds on his return to action, the formidable Kyprios regained his Irish St Leger crown with a trademark authoritative triumph in what was a stop-start running of the Curragh Group 1.

Your average stayer might be vulnerable to something with a bit more toe in such circumstances, but this is no average stayer. He defied the uneven pace by gradually asserting when Ryan Moore set about him fully three furlongs out, taking his time to wear down his pacemaking stablemate The Euphrates before eventually drawing clear to win by two and a quarter lengths.

Moore, who was landing his first top-level win of the weekend after some short-priced defeats in the previous five Group 1s, picked up his whip just once. 

He has previously seemed dismissive of the suggestion Kyprios might be worthy of a place in the Arc, but it was a prospect Aidan O'Brien did not entirely rule out after recording his seventh victory in this €600,000 showpiece. 

The chestnut son of Galileo was taking his haul for the year to five wins from five, three of which have now come in marquee events after his dominant victories in Gold Cups at Ascot and Goodwood. And happily the six-year-old, who is owned by a Coolmore-Moyglare Stud Farm partnership, will return for more in 2025.

Standing next to O'Brien, Moyglare owner Eva Maria Bucher-Haefner, whose colours have now been carried to Irish St Leger glory four times in six years following the 2019 and 2020 victories of Kyprios's sister Search For a Song, confirmed she "would love to see him race again next year".

The trainer is only too happy to run with that plan. "There's your answer," O'Brien parried with a smile. 

"Kyprios is very special and every year he seems to be improving. That seems to be his best again and Ryan said he won so easily. 

"It's a very special pedigree and Eva has brought it along all the way. These kind of horses are once in a lifetime really." 

Kyprios returns to the winner's enclosure after the Irish St LegerCredit: Patrick McCann

In 2023, Eldar Eldarov thwarted Kyprios on the Curragh and he was then narrowly beaten at Ascot on Champions Day by Trawlerman. 

Those are his only two reversals in 12 starts since he defeated Search For A Song in the Vintage Crop Stakes at Navan in April 2022. 

He suffered an infection to a joint capsule that kept him off the track for nearly 12 months, but he has clearly regained all of his mojo and appetite for racing in 2024. 

"He's a very special horse," O'Brien said of the 2-5 favourite. "With the Ascot Gold Cup, very few horses are able to stay that far, but this horse has serious class as well. He's so genuine. To get through what he did and still be the way he is, it's incredible. He's one in a million." 

As to whether Kyprios will run again this year, O'Brien wasn't sure. He was cut to 4-6 (from 11-10) for Ascot's Long Distance Cup and is 25-1 (from 50) for the Arc. 

The Arc question is often put to O'Brien. He didn't give a hard 'no' here, but he didn't sound overly keen either.

"He doesn't have to run again this year, I'm not sure," he said. "We'll see how he is, but he looks very fresh. He could run in an Arc, we know that. It's important to mind him and do the right thing by him. 

"There's only one Arc and he has a serious engine. He won a Cadran by a furlong so all of those options are open." 

Moore was winning his fourth Irish St Leger after Order Of St George (2017), Flag Of Honour (2018) and this fellow in 2022. His mount's predicament wasn't aided by the steady fractions, but it mattered little. 

The Marco Botti-trained Giavellotto worked himself up into a sweaty stew beforehand and Oisin Murphy might not have been helped by the keen German runner Waldadler on his inside early on, yet he still kept on to be third, less than a length behind Vauban in second. 

Willie Mullins' dual purpose star had raced in last under William Buick, so his effort was meritorious as well, and he is now Melbourne-bound. 

Moore was in the box seat ahead of them all tracking The Euphrates and it was the right place to be. At the end of a fairly frustrating weekend for the rider, Kyprios's uncomplicated disposition will have been a welcome opportunity to vanquish the reversals. 

"He's the best stayer I've ridden," Moore said unequivocally. "He takes a while to engage but he's an unbelievable horse."

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