Goodwood Tuesday

Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup (Group 1)

KYPRIOS (Aidan O’Brien/Ryan Moore) put himself firmly in the pantheon of great flat stayers by regaining his Goodwood Cup crown on Tuesday.

The six-year-old missed the 2023 race and was not expected to run again, but just as he had in the Gold Cup at Ascot last month, he confirmed himself as good as ever by winning the most coveted double in the calendar for his ilk.

His only minor scare came when he seemed to lose his footing briefly, but Ryan Moore sent him to the front two furlongs out and the only question then for the 8/13 favourite was by how far he would win.

The answer was four lengths, with Sweet William (John and Thady Gosden/Rab Havlin) shading stable companion Gregory (James Doyle) for second. The winning time of 3m21:53secs is a new course record and over three seconds quicker than the previous best.

Moore said: “He slipped on the top bend today and I was always struggling with my rhythm on him then, so it was always going against him the whole race. I ended up having to go there at the two when I would ideally have liked to wait a bit longer, but he’s just very high class.

“This fella is very, very good. He wouldn’t show you how good he is, but he’s very good. He’s not an Arc horse, he stays well but he wouldn’t be disgraced. I remember Aidan ringing me and telling me what happened to him at the end of his good year. I never thought we would see him run again, so all credit to everyone at Ballydoyle for a massive effort.”

Second gear

O’Brien added: “He’s a very special horse. He has so much class, really, he was going along in second gear the whole time. It wasn’t easy for Ryan because he said he felt on the bend he was different to before, obviously he’s had his injury. Ryan said he felt him slip on the top bend and he was always trying to gather him and help him.

“It was an incredible ride, he’s an incredible horse. Obviously, we know that he stays well but he has a lot of class as well, I’m delighted for everybody.”

Asked if he might consider a tilt at the ‘Arc’, O’Brien answered: “The Gold Cup is a very important race for him every year, we were minding him for that.

“We thought if he was okay, we might bring him back to an Irish St Leger again, he’ll hopefully be okay tomorrow and we’ll have him back for that and then have him next year again.

“We have to be very respectful to him, you saw where he came from and it’s hard to believe he’s here today. He did find the undulations of the track a little more difficult than he did before.”

IT’S taken the racing world a long time to warm to Audience (John and Thady Gosden/Rab Havlin), perhaps because of his roles as gallop companion to Inspiral. He has shown his class enough to change a few minds now, and his latest win saw him take his game to new heights with a four-length demolition of his rivals in the Group 2 Lennox Stakes. The win came despite being shouldered with a penalty for his impressive triumph in the Lockinge at Newbury in May, and going without his familiar hood.

Sent off at 4/1, Audience was the only runner to set off in pursuit of the front-running Art Power (Tim Easterby/David Allan), and that pair led the pack by several length rounding the top bend.

With a quarter of a mile to go, Audience took over and while Art Power ran on well enough to hold second, the race was quickly over as a contest, with Havlin able to put on a show in the final furlong to put distance between himself and the field.

Dual winner Kinross (Rossa Ryan/Ralph Beckett) was poorly placed as the race went, but stayed on late for third, five lengths adrift of the impressive winner, who was bouncing back from a below-par run in the Queen Anne Stakes at Royal Ascot.

No fluke

Havlin said: “After he won the Lockinge, I told everyone it was no fluke and they laughed. He’s always had a lot of ability. We used to ride him without the hood, but I sat on him on Saturday, and he absolutely flew, so we thought this was the right time to try him without it.

“He wasn’t very competitive in the Lennox round here last year (finished sixth) but, with the hood off, it really sharpened him up. He’s so controllable now, as well.

“I didn’t think we were going overly quick up the hill, but I let him go at the three and by God, he was fast.”

THE Group 2 Vintage Stakes didn’t look especially vintage on paper and was weakened by the withdrawal of overnight favourite The Parthenon on account of the ground, but it produced a likeable performance from Aomori City (Charlie Appleby/William Buick), who came with a strong run after being short of room to get the better of the promising Wolf Of Badenoch (Hugo Palmer/Jamie Spencer).

The winner was returned at 2/1 favourite and won by one and three-quarter lengths.

Beaten into third in the July Stakes at Newmarket on his previous start, Aomori looked very well in the preliminaries, and clearly relished the extra furlong here, as Charlie Appleby believed he would.

“That was a marked improvement today,” said the Moulton Paddocks trainer. “And he had to be brave as he was tightened up on the turns. That’s no harm in educating him towards the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf.

“When you watch him at home, he’s not a workhorse. In the pecking order, he’s doing what he’s doing, and I’m not saying that he’s just going to be a two-year-old, but he’s professional now.”

Murtagh winner

Racing opened with the 10-furlong Coral Chesterfield Cup Handicap which brought success for Johnny Murtagh and Ben Coen with the Team Valour and Steven Rocco-owned gelding Take Heart (7/1). The four-year-old by Dark Angel, raced wide and pressed the leaders over two out, and ridden to lead over a furlong out, got the better of a duel with Max Mayhem and held the final challenge of favourite Enfjaar by a neck.