Kyprios, the odds-on favourite, added another Group One to Aidan O’Brien’s ever-extending list of top-flight victories at Goodwood on Tuesday with a straightforward success in the Goodwood Cup in a new course-record time, but a race that got away – Saturday’s King George at Ascot – was still the main topic for discussion after O’Brien had picked up the prize.
O’Brien suggested in the immediate aftermath of Auguste Rodin’s defeat as the 7-4 favourite at Ascot that he had been forced to race on ground that was significantly softer than the official description of good-to-firm, good in places. Chris Stickels, the clerk of the course, later insisted that race-times on the afternoon backed up the official description, a view that the independent and respected Timeform organisation subsequently suggested was “pretty close to the mark”.
On Tuesday, O’Brien reaffirmed his belief that “the ground was well-watered on the inside and had sand put in it, so it was riding much slower than we thought it would,” while also admitting that “with hindsight”, the favourite’s front-running stable-companions, Hans Andersen and Luxembourg, had forced too strong a pace.
“There’s no doubt in hindsight I made an absolute muck of it and I don’t mind admitting that,” O’Brien said. “We went a strong pace but [Auguste Rodin] got jammed down on the rail with William [Buick, on Rebel’s Romance] on Ryan’s outside, and those fellas don’t give each other a millimetre out there.
“He’s a mile-and-a-quarter horse that gets a mile-and-a-half. We think the position he ended up in, with the sand coming back in his face and the slowish ground, he ran out of stamina.”
Auguste Rodin’s long-term target this season is the Japan Cup in November, where he can expect a warm reception from local fans as a Derby-winning son of the former Japanese great, Deep Impact. He then seems likely to retire to Coolmore Stud from next year, and O’Brien was understandably keen to emphasise that Saturday’s defeat – the fourth in Auguste Rodin’s career that could fairly be described as a serious disappointment – does not diminish his prospects as a stallion.
“He has the pedigree, the movement, the action, he has everything,” O’Brien said. “We never thought he was a down-and-dirty street fighter, he was never a Duke of Marmalade or any of those, he was always a very classy horse on fast ground. And why we’re so excited about him is, when horses go to stud, those type of horses, the Duke of Marmalades and those type of horse, they end up being failures. They get the odd horse, but they don’t put class into every horse.
“We think he’s going to put class into everything, and that all he’s going to need is a little bit of toughness from the mares.”
O’Brien has not won the British Flat trainers’ championship since landing his sixth title in 2017, but he is the clear leader in this year’s race and Kyprios’s four-length defeat of Sweet William added another £283,550 to his prize-money total.
Kyprios is now a five-year-old but missed much of his four-year-old due to injury and seems unlikely to be joining the Coolmore stallion in the immediate future.
“He does have an eye for a filly now, which is what you would expect at his age,” O’Brien said. “Between the heat and the fillies, everyone did well to get him here today and for him to do what he did.
“The Gold Cup [at Ascot] is a very important race for him every year, and we will mind him for that,” O’Brien said. “We might bring him back to an Irish St Leger [in September] again [and] if we got him through that, we’d have him for next year.
“We have to be respectful of him and to him, because if you saw where he came from [with his injury], it’s hard to believe that he is here today.”
Longfellow can score in Sussex
The Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood on Wednesday lost its likely favourite on Tuesday morning when Richard Hannon’s three-year-old Rosallion, the winner of the Irish 2,000 Guineas and the St James’s Palace Stakes, was ruled out of the Group One contest due to a respiratory infection.
Even in his absence, though, the market still expects the Classic generation to dominate, with Henry Longfellow and Notable Speech, who finished second and seventh respectively behind Rosallion at Ascot, vying for favouritism overnight.
Notable Speech was a convincing winner of the 2,000 Guineas in May but was a long way below that form on fast going at Ascot and there has to be a suspicion that drying ground at Goodwood will count against him.
There are similar concerns about Facteur Cheval, the runner-up on heavy ground 12 months ago.
Henry Longfellow (3.35), by contrast, seemed well suited to a fast surface last time and while Rosallion had more to spare there than the official margin of a neck might suggest, Aidan O’Brien’s colt looks like the safest bet in Wednesday’s depleted field.
Goodwood 1.50 French Duke took a strong hold in the King George V Handicap at the Royal meeting last month and then made a big move five wide around the turn, so it was no surprise when the effort told in the closing stages. A hood should help him to settle better here and the sharper track may be in his favour too.
Goodwood 2.25 Having progressed by the run this season, Jabaara took another big step forward to finish second in the Group One Falmouth Stakes last time and anything close to that form may be enough on this drop back to Group Three company.
Goodwood 1.50 French Duke (nb) 2.25 Jabaara 3.00 Aesterius 3.35 Henry Longfellow 4.10 Power Of Destiny 4.45 Coto De Caza 5.20 Billyjoh
Redcar 2.05 Sealine 2.40 Bernalda 3.15 Elemental Eye 3.50 Own Accord 4.25 Gunnerside 5.00 Star Of St James
Sandown 5.45 Nikovo 6.20 Alashos 6.55 Starzintheireyes 7.25 Cock And Bull 7.55 Ciara Pearl 8.30 Monks Mead
Leicester 6.05 One Of Our Own 6.35 Up The Anti 7.05 River Blackwater 7.35 Thrilling Dream 8.05 Makeen (nap) 8.40 Ten Pounds
Goodwood 3.00 Mick Appleby finally dispelled any doubts about his ability to train top-class juveniles when Big Evs took this juvenile speed test 12 months ago and he returns with another interesting contender in Mr Lightside. He left his debut form a long way behind when successful at Redcar in June and then progressed again to win at Nottingham last time with two subsequent winners in second and fourth.
