Kyprios to prove he’s the star stayer in Goodwood Cup
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ALTHOUGH the Qatar Goodwood Festival takes place over the next five days, many will argue that the race of the meeting comes during today’s opening salvo.
The Al Shaqab Goodwood Cup (3.35pm) might only feature nine runners, but they are a seriously talented group headed by the Ascot Gold Cup winner KYPRIOS.
Aidan O’Brien has always talked about the son of Galileo as a potential staying superstar and it’s pretty rare that the master of Ballydoyle gets it wrong.
That’s once again been the case with Kyprios, who has won all three of his races this season, including the aforementioned Gold Cup on his most recent outing.
The winning margin might have been half-a-length that day, but given Ryan Moore had to track a wide path from quite a way out, he was probably better value than the official result.
He hit the line well but there’s enough to suggest the drop back to two miles will suit him better, particularly as he’s shown plenty of pace in the past, and he looks a strong candidate to give O’Brien his first win in the race since Yeats in 2008 at 11/8 with Star Sports.
The World Pool with tote.co.uk is back in action for the first three days of the meeting at Goodwood and with huge sums likely to be in the pools, I’m going to suggest adding a couple of Kyprios’ rivals into a Quinella alongside him.
And the first of those simply has to be STRADIVARIUS.
His record in this race speaks for itself having won the two-mile contest a record four times and for many he comes into this after a very unlucky third at Ascot.
Frankie Dettori, Stradivarius’ jockey for 26 of his 34 races, took much of the blame for his luckless run at the Berkshire track and while the Italian has made up with John Gosden subsequently, owner Bjorn Nielsen hasn’t been quite as forgiving with Andrea Atzeni taking over in the saddle.
Atzeni, of course, won two Goodwood Cups on Stradivarius, so the change isn’t a negative, but it certainly adds another level of intrigue to an already fascinating contest.
The dry weather which has hit the UK recently will suit the eight-year-old and while he’s probably not quite the force of old, he’s still a big player and looks a must for the exotic bets.
Last year’s winner Trueshan has to be respected on the back of his huge weight-carrying performance in the Northumberland Plate, but given his trainer Alan King pulled him out of the Gold Cup due to the quick ground, there have to be serious doubts about his participation here on a likely similar surface.
Instead, the final one for ƒthe World Pool Quinella is COLTRANE.
Andrew Balding’s five-year-old contests his first Group race here, but looks very progressive and could pick up the pieces if the big guns misfire.
POINTERS
Kyprios 3.35pm Goodwood
Kyprios, Stradivarius, Coltrane (World Pool Quinella) 3.35pm Goodwood