Last year’s race Winner: Kyprios Jockey: Ryan Moore Trainer: AP O'Brien Owner: Moyglare, Magnier, Tabor, Smith, Westerberg Age: 6 Weight: 9st 4lbs Starting Price: 11/10 Season Form Figures: 11 Previous Best: 1st - Prix du Cadran (Group 1), ParisLongchamp (Oct 2022) By Paul Jones As many as 18 of the last 19 winners have been very findable with just one winner (Trip To Paris at 12/1) sent off at bigger than 15/2. Having won both his prep races this season taking his winning run to nine consecutive victories, the x8 Group 1-winning Kyprios would likely have started a short-priced favourite to retain the Gold Cup that he won in 2022 and 2024 (was forced to miss 2023 through injury) and give Aidan O’Brien what would be a tenth win in the race, but was retired on May 27th. O’Brien’s favoured route to the Gold Cup is the Vintage Crop and Saval Beg, which he has done so on many occasions with his best stayers, and Kyprios made fairly short work of his rivals at long-odds-on in both trials this season before his setback. The other best stayers in Britain and Ireland are also housed at Ballydoyle however, and the likes of Illinois, Jan Brueghel and Tower Of London may now be asked to step in and fill the massive void left by their stablemate. An exception would have been the 2023 winner, Courage Mon Ami, who missed last season and remains on the ‘easy list’ so this year’s Gold Cup will have a new name on it. We have had many dual Gold Cup winners over the years, plus Yeats won it on four successive occasions and Stradivarius and Sagaro three times running. In fact, 23 horses have won the Gold Cup more than once. The statistical sticking point to Kyprios’ chance would have been that he is a seven-year-old. Prior to Yeats, only one other winner going back to 1929 had been aged seven or older. Stradivarius tried and failed twice to become the next. Therefore, history tells us that only exceptional horses over the age of six tend to win the Gold Cup, and stayers don’t get much more exceptional than Yeats who won here as a seven and eight-year-old. This year, we do have a legitimate French-trained contender in the son of Frankel, Candelari, who has won four of his five starts in the Aga Khan silks including the upgraded-to-Group 1 Prix Vicomtesse Vigier by 3½l last month, so he is lightly raced and progressive. The French have won one just Gold Cup since Sagaro in 1977 when Westerner won in 2005 when the meeting was transferred to York. Three Queen’s Vase winners since 2012 went on to win the following year’s Gold Cup and five in total during that limited time period given that Stradivarius went on to win it twice more. Given his subsequent exploits, there also must have been every chance that Kyprios would have been another as he was set to run in Queen’s Vase during his three-year-old season before he became the champion stayer but was withdrawn when becoming upset in the stalls. Last year’s Queen’s Vase winner, Illinois, holds a Gold Cup entry but after winning the Ormonde Stakes (and just having been touched off by Jan Brueghel in the St Leger), it may be that he is kept to around 1m4f this season with races like the Coronation Cup and King George in mind. Should he contest the Gold Cup though, he would be a very serious contender. At the time of writing, on ratings, the St Leger 1-2 are around 9lb ahead of Candelari of the four-year-olds and that age group has won nine of the last 13 runnings. Yashin was the 11/1 outsider of four when winning the beating Coltrane in the Sagaro Stakes but would need to be supplemented to take his chance. Colour Vision (2012) and Estimate (2013) both contested that Group 3 trial before winning the Gold Cup. Seven of the last 15 British-trained Gold Cup winners contested the Henry II Stakes at Sandown. In fact, the Henry II has been the most productive Gold Cup guide over the last three decades featuring ten Gold Cup winners and, of those, six were placed at Sandown. Godolphin have won five Gold Cups going back to 1996 and their main hope is Trawlerman who ran Kypros to a length in last year’s race and who got back up to beat his old rival by a neck here on Champions Day in 2023, though Kyprios likely committed too soon and is better of the pair over this extra 4½f. In fact, Kyprios did well to overcome a moderate gallop to win a tactical running of the 2022 Gold Cup. Up until 2010, the previous ten winners had won a Group 1 or 2 contest but, since then, Rite Of Passage, Estimate, Trip To Paris, Kyprios (first time) and Courage Mon Ami have won the Gold Cup having not won previously at such a level. In fact, the latter-named was having his first run in any group race on what was just his fourth career start. A total of 24 of the last 30 winners had won earlier in the season. Can the draw be a factor over 2m4f? The six winners prior to Courage Mon Ami were drawn no higher than stall 7 so maybe there is a little something in that? Estimate was the last winning mare and prior to that it was Indian Queen in 1991. At a glance summary Positives Likely to start no bigger than 15/2Trained by Aidan O’Brien Won the Gold Cup or Queen’s Vase previously Four-year-oldsOwned by Godolphin Contested the Henry II Stakes Won earlier in the season Drawn lower half Negatives Aged 6+