Tuesday, brought the news that one of the genuine superstars of the flat was to be retired with immediate effect. Almost unchallenged in the staying division since first stepping up in trip in 2022, the Aidan O’Brien-trained Kyprios looked set to dominate once again in 2025. However, that will not be the case. With an old injury resurfacing following his most recent outing, connections have decided to call time on an all-time great staying career.
The current campaign will undoubtedly be poorer due to the absence of a star who has lit up the major staying events over the past few seasons. However, fans will be relieved that the hugely popular performer heads home to his paddock in one piece. And what a racehorse he was!
Pedigree Promise and an Encouraging Start
Ahead of his debut in 2020, Kyprios was the latest in a long line of Aidan O’Brien stars who made masses of appeal on paper. His sire Galileo needs little introduction. His dam, Polished Gem, was no great shakes at the track but had already produced 100+ rated performers Amma Grace, Falcon Eight, Sapphire, Search For A Song, Custom Cut, and Free Eagle. Could Kyprios become the next of her offspring to make his presence felt on the big stage?
Making his debut at Galway in September 2020, Kyprios broke his duck at the first time of asking when getting up close home in that 1m½f heavy ground event. A solid start, but Kyprios had his early bubble burst next time out, when nearer last than first in the Group 3 Zetland Stakes.
The eagle has landed
Lone Eagle makes all up the stand side to win the Group Three @godolphin Flying Start Zetland Stakes under that man @SilvDSousa riding for @MMeadeRacing pic.twitter.com/YnMI4IaJZj
— Newmarket Racecourse (@NewmarketRace) October 10, 2020
It was a similar story in the colt’s brief Classic campaign. Too good for his rivals on his return at Cork, Kyprios was touted as a potential Derby contender, only to bomb out in the Lingfield Derby Trial.
With the Derby off the menu, Kyprios headed to Ascot to test his staying potential in the 1m6f Queen’s Vase. At least, that was the plan. Unfortunately, the three-year-old became worked up at the start, leading to his withdrawal. O’Brien would need to wait to see Kyprios display his stamina-laden powers.
Unstoppable in 2022
| Date | Race | Course | Odds | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 23/4/22 | Vintage Crop Stakes | Navan | 5/1 | 1st |
| 13/5/22 | Savel Beg Stakes | Leopardstown | 1/10 | 1st |
| 16/6/22 | Gold Cup | Royal Ascot | 13/8 | 1st |
| 26/7/22 | Goodwood Cup | Goodwood | 6/4 | 1st |
| 11/9/22 | Irish St. Leger | Curragh | 8/11 | 1st |
| 1/10/22 | Prix du Cadran | Longchamp | 7/10 | 1st |
It was worth the wait. Returning as a four-year-old in 2022, Kyprios cut a swathe through the staying division. Kicking off with a verdict over his full-sister Search For A Song in a 1m6f event at Navan, he added the Group 3 Savel Beg Stakes before heading to Ascot for the Gold Cup.
With three-time Gold Cup winner Stradivarius, Derby runner-up Mojo Star, and Prix Du Cadran heroine Princess Zoe amongst the opposition, Kyprios faced the ultimate test. He passed it in tenacious style, taking the lead at the two-furlong pole and fending up all comers on the run to the line. A thrilling neck success over Stradivarius in the Goodwood Cup and a workmanlike Irish St Leger win then extended his winning run to five. And then came the 2022 Prix du Cadran.
Sent off at odds of just 7/10, Kyprios was fully expected to win the big staying event at the Arc meeting. However, no one foresaw the complete annihilation of a talented lineup which followed. Grabbing the lead half a mile from home, Kyprios proceeded to storm further and further clear. A scarcely credible 20 lengths was the winning margin in one of the most jaw-dropping staying performances of the modern era.
Injury No More Than a Bump in the Road
| Date | Race | Course | Odds | Position |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10/9/23 | Irish St. Leger | Curragh | 4/6 | 2nd |
| 21/10/23 | Long Distance Cup | Ascot | 11/10 | 2nd |
| 27/4/24 | Vintage Crop Stakes | Navan | 2/13 | 1st |
| 17/5/24 | Savel Beg Stakes | Leopardstown | 1/12 | 1st |
| 20/6/24 | Gold Cup | Royal Ascot | 11/10 | 1st |
| 30/7/24 | Goodwood Cup | Goodwood | 8/13 | 1st |
| 15/9/24 | Irish St. Leger | Curragh | 2/5 | 1st |
| 5/10/24 | Prix du Cadran | Longchamp | 1/5 | 1st |
| 19/10/24 | Long Distance Cup | Ascot | 8/11 | 1st |
Following that display in France, Kyprios looked set to dominate the staying division for years to come. Unfortunately, he missed the next 344 days through injury. Returning in the Autumn of 2023, back-to-back defeats in the Irish St Leger and the Champions Long Distance Cup suggested those health issues had left a mark.
However, Kyprios obliterated any suggestion that he was past his prime in a stellar 2024 campaign. Back to winning ways in the Vintage Crop Stakes, he provided a perfect repeat of his 2022 season with wins in the Savel Beg Stakes, the Ascot Gold Cup, the Goodwood Cup, the Irish St Leger, and the Prix Du Cadran. Still not finished, he added the Long Distance Cup on Champions Day. As far as comebacks go, it simply doesn’t get any better than that.
Ending on a High in 2025
As the 2025 campaign began, Kyprios sat atop the market for every major staying event. Setting out once more on his well-trodden path, he landed the Vintage Crop Stakes and Saval Beg Levmoss Stakes for a third time. Initially, the fact that Kyprios was solid if unspectacular in that latter event raised few eyebrows.
However, all was not well with the seven-year-old, with a post-race exam revealing the recurrence of a previous ringbone lesion. Rather than asking the legend to go to the recovery well once more, connections opted to send Kyprios into a hopefully long and happy retirement.
Up There with The Best
With Kyprios’s racing career now officially over, many will ask the question of where he stands on the list of all-time greats. In the modern era, another O’Brien runner, Yeats, is the accepted benchmark in the staying division.
Whilst Kyprios can’t quite match the four Ascot Gold Cup wins of his predecessor, by other measures, he more than stacks up. In winning 17 of his 21 starts, he boasts two more career triumphs than Yeats, whilst a total of eight Group 1 wins is one more than that of the son of Sadler’s Wells.
Nigh on impossible to split on the stats, it is a similar story when we look at the peak official ratings of the duo. The mark of 122 achieved by Kyprios in the 2022 Prix Du Cadran exactly matches Yeats’ career-high rating.
Whether better, worse, or dead level with Yeats, Kyprios was undoubtedly a generational talent and a horse who won’t be forgotten by racing fans anytime soon.
