Ascot Gold Cup Tips: Kyprios To Regain Title

One of the highlights of every Royal Ascot is of course the Gold Cup and this year's renewal promises to be a real high quality affair.. If all horses run up to their best it could be all about the favourite, and after assessing the chances of the field our man Billy Grimshaw finds it hard to oppose the Irish raider in his hunt for a second Gold Cup...

Plenty will be against the mighty KYPRIOS in the Ascot Gold Cup on account of his near year off in 2023 and then average performances on his return, however I am more than happy to accept the excuses he had for defeats in those races and will remember his awesome displays in 2022 as more of a guide. He may not quite be the awesome stayer who won this race and five other big prizes that year anymore, but he is trained by the greatest of all time in Aidan O'Brien and there have been plenty of signs in his two rampant wins this season that he is getting back to something approaching his best.

The noises coming out of Ballydoyle indicate they are very happy indeed with arguably their best stayer since Yeats (sorry Order Of St George fans!) and should he be at 80% of the class he showed in 2022 when winning that vintage renewal from Stradivarius, he will mop up this race with minimal fuss. Some will throw stones at him and decry him as a bit of a thinker as he has aged, exemplified in his stunning win at Longchamp in late 2022 in which he romped to glory by over 20 lengths but pulled Ryan Moore all over the track. That was as freakish a staying performance as we are ever likely to see and if that talent remains, he wins.

Maybe Giavellotto will prove to be a superstar in time, but my belief Vauban could become a genuine top class stayer was dented somewhat by his second to the aforementioned horse at York last time out and I'm happy to pass the Mullins raider over in a race against one as good as Kyprios, while the horse who lowered Kyprios's colours Trawlerman will not have Frankie Dettori riding the crest of a wave to aid him this time and also will be taking on a much better positioned (hopefully) and a much more like his true self Kyprios.

Gregory is the horse I fear most in terms of the one who could eventually become a genuine top notcher, with his third in the Yorkshire Cup last time out screaming out that he wanted an even tougher stamina test. He'll get that here and James Doyle has a real chance on one of the stars of new boys on the block Wathnan Racing, although I don't have any stamina concerns for our selection the favourite either and am confident Moore can use his speed to his advantage.

Sweet William is a talented stayer but I can't see his run style suiting this contest, with the horse's best runs all coming when delivered late. If Rab Havlin tries to do that here, he could well blow his chance if he lets some classy proven sorts get away. Coltrane could be a pace angle and is one I could put no one off backing each-way on the back of his brilliant second place in this very race last season. That was arguably a career best and we know he retains his form so he could be the one to chase Kyprios and perhaps Gregory home. He also blatantly loves the test of this race.

Caius Chorister is not a forlorn hope but has work to do against some horses who have beaten him fair and square in the past, while Trueshan could well be withdrawn as the ground looks set to stay good, Enemy and Prydwen look to be making up the numbers and in a race stacked with good stayers, I'm hopeful we see the return to his brilliant best of a great one in Kyprios.