The opening meeting of Glorious Goodwood overnight was highlighted by the Group I Goodwood Gold Cup (2m) for the stayers and it produced the much hoped for epic battle between champion stayer Stradivarius and the up and coming staying star Kyprios.
Undefeated this year and a last start winner of the Group I Ascot Gold Cup, the Aidan O’Brien trained 4YO Kyprios started favourite and claimed a neck win over much loved 8YO Stradivarius with last year’s winner of the race Trueshan in third place.
“Ryan (Moore) gave him a beautiful ride. Kyprios is a horse who keeps plenty and is very lazy, but it's brilliant and I'm delighted,” said Aidan O’Brien.
“It was great they all came into the straight and Ryan had him in a beautiful position, while he's a horse who loves a fight. He's lazy and if you want him to stay in first gear, he'll stay in first gear.
“That's the way he is and always has been; he saves everything but is very professional. I'd say there's a lot more to come from him. He loves racing and is easy on himself.
“These races - the Gold Cup and Goodwood Cup - were planned out for him and the plan from here was the Irish St Leger. He's got a lot of class and quality and even though he ran two miles there and two and a half at Ascot, we would have had no problem starting him over a mile and a quarter next year. He has that pace, but you don't see it because he doesn't show it - unless you really want it.”
Blueblood Galileo stallion Kyprios was bred by Moyglare Stud and races for an ownership group that also includes the Coolmore partners.
Kyprios has won six of eight starts and is the third Group I winner and last foal from blue hen Polished Gem, who has 10 foals to race and all are winners, eight of them stakes-winners as listed below:
Kyprios (Galileo) G1
Search for a Song (Galileo) G1
Free Eagle (High Chaparral) G1
Custom Cut (Notnowcato) G2
Sapphire (Medicean) G2
Valac (Dark Angel) G3
Falcon Eight (Galileo) Listed
Amma Grace (Galileo) Listed
The Group II Vintage Stakes (7f) for 2YO’s was expected to be won by Royal Ascot debut stakes-winner Holloway Boy, but he came up short by half a length going down to Oasis Dream colt Marbaan.
Bred by Shadwell and raced by Sheikh Ahmed Al Maktoum, Marbaan is trained by Charlie Fellowes and has won three of four starts.
Marbaan is a three-quarter brother to Group III winner Convergence and is the best of five winners from stakes-placed Zahoo, a half-sister by Nayef to Group I winner Matterhorn, Group winners Bangkok and Tactic as well as stakes-winners Yaazy and Perotan, a 3YO Churchill filly that was featured in a recent Breednet story when she won her first stakes race.
Marbaan is the 131st stakes-winner for 22 year old stallion Oasis Dream, who stands for Juddmonte Farms at Banstead Manor at a fee of £20,000
The Group II Lennox Stakes (7f) produced a return to form for quality 3YO filly Sandrine, who upstaged her older rivals to win by a neck.
A homebred for Lanwades Stud’s Kirsten Rausing trained by Andrew Balding, Sandrine was already a Group II winner and has twice been Group I placed boasting the overall record of four wins and three palcings from nine starts.
Sandrine is the best of two winners from Seychelloise, a winning Pivotal daughter of Group III winning Oasis Dream mare Starlit Sands.
She is the lone stakes-winner from the first crop of Bobby’s Kitten, who stands at Lanwades Stud at a fee of £7000.
A Group I winning son of Kitten’s Joy, Bobby’s Kitten shuttled to Australia for one season in 2017 with that foal crop now 3YO’s that include 10 winners from 21 runners.
