“Very Special” Kyprios the stand out in field of Seven for Tuesday’s £500,000 Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup

Dual Gold Cup winner Kyprios is set to face six rivals, including 2021 winner Trueshan, when on Tuesday’s opening day of the Qatar Goodwood Festival he bids to regain the Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup crown that he was unable to defend 12 months ago owing to a serious joint injury.

Having missed most of 2023 with what Aidan O’Brien has described as a life threatening infection it is perhaps no surprise that Kyprios was not quite at his best when finally returning in the autumn.

In an interview with Goodwood Media last week O’Brien confirmed that at one stage he feared he might not live, let alone race again, and that bringing him back from injury had been “a long process” involving many people. 

He was beaten both times on his return, albeit only narrowly by Trawlerman in the QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup at Ascot, but this year he has won all of his three starts, including his second Gold Cup at Royal Ascot.

Two years ago Kyprios denied the great Stradivarius a fifth Goodwood Cup and had Trueshan further back in third. O’Brien, who won two Goodwood Cups with his brilliant stayer Yeats, describes him as “a very special horse” and one with “a lot more class than most people think.”

He added: “He does stay, which is unusual, but he’d have no problem being a Group horse over 1m2f. As he goes up in distance, he just gets better. Those good stayers are very rare. When you go to those distances, very few horses get them really, but he has the class and gets the trip as well.”

Kyprios might not have been quite back to his imperious best in the Gold Cup, but his length defeat of old rival Trawlerman, the pair clear, was another big step forward, and O’Brien confirms that all has gone well since and that he is “very happy with him.” He toyed with running Point Lonsdale as well, and Continuous was another possible, but it looks significant that he is content to rely solely upon Kyprios.

Gosden looking to turn the tables with Gregory and Sweet William

Trawlerman is “having a nice holiday” before being prepared for a defence of his Long Distance Cup crown, according to John Gosden, but the stable is still able to offer two of the more credible opponents to Kyprios in Sweet William and Gregory, who were third and seventh respectively in the Gold Cup. 

Sweet William rose fast through the ranks last season and added Sandown’s Henry II Stakes in May, but Gregory might be the bigger danger, notwithstanding their respective Gold Cup finishing positions.

Gosden revealed: “Gregory just wasn’t right there, and he wasn’t right after the race. He’d worked well going into it, but he just didn’t fire and that can happen.”

Jockey Jamed Doyle, for whom the four-year-old’s heavy defeat was one of the few disappointments of a great first Royal Ascot riding for owners Wathnan Racing, confirmed: “Gregory’s work has been good since Ascot, where he just wasn’t 100 per cent. 

“I’m sure it was his wellbeing, rather than the trip, that was the problem there, but coming back to two miles wouldn’t be a negative for him. We are on the comeback trail and he seems in good order.”

Consistent Coltrane out to break 2024 duck

Coltrane, who was fifth in the Gold Cup, will be making his third successive appearance here after following a 2022 fourth with third place behind Quickthorn last year. He beat the Gold Cup winner Courage Mon Ami in York’s Lonsdale Cup last August and won for an eighth time when beating Caius Chorister in Ascot’s Sagaro Stakes in May, but at seven his profile is less consistent than it used to be.

Doyle hopes evergreen Trueshan can roll back the years

The hugely popular eight-year-old Trueshan missed the Gold Cup for a fourth successive time owing to fast ground, but he was impressive on his favoured soft going here three years ago, albeit in a field weakened by the absence of Subjectivist through injury and Stradivarius on account of deteriorating underfoot conditions. 

Trueshan was impressive too under ideal conditions when landing a second Prix du Cadran on his penultimate start last year, but he disappointed twice this spring before his Listed success at Sandown earlier this month. The official going at Goodwood at declaration time was described as “good to soft”, and trainer Alan King and jockey Hollie Doyle will be hoping it doesn’t dry out too much.

Doyle said: “Hopefully it will still be good ground at least on the first day. It was a great day when he won the Goodwood Cup three years ago, and that first Group 1 win was so well deserved after all he had done. He’s often been bogged down by penalties since then, so it was just lovely to see him enjoying himself at Sandown last time. 

“It’s a deeper race at Goodwood this time, but I just hope Sandown has done his confidence good.”

Yorkshire pair round off top class septet

Karl Burke’s Al Qareem has won a Group 3 and a Group 2 and run some solid races in defeat this year, but he was found wanting on the only occasion he was tried in a Group 1 in 2022.

The field is completed by the Brian Ellison-trained outsider Tashkhan, who was runner-up to Trueshan in the 2021 Long Distance Cup but has won only a Chester handicap since then. He was well beaten here 12 months ago.