Irish St Leger Tips: Kyprios To Return In Style

The final Classic of the Irish season is coming our way on Sunday as one of the final races of the Irish Champions Weekend. The Irish St Leger at the Curragh is a unique Classic in that it is open to horses of all ages, and this season a field of five will compete for the coveted prize. A returning superstar is the headline attraction and Billy Grimshaw is fizzing with excitement to see the Ballydoyle brute return...

One of the cruellest aspects of being involved in he great game that is racing is the frequency that our favourite horses are sidelined by injury, illness or, in the worst cases, fatalities. Flat fans were unanimous in their assessment that last season we had seen the heir apparent in the staying division in the shape of Ballydoyle's brilliant KYPRIOS. Aidan O'Brien wsa typically bullish in the winter about his colt's chances of being a star on his return following an injury scuppering his entire three year old campaign.

In late April at Navan Kyprios was back on track and back in the winners' enclosure after a routine win. What he would go onto achieve that season was a campaign out of the top drawer for any stayer through the years. He got the better of the mighty Stradivarius in both the Ascot Gold Cup and the Goodwood Cup, showing a tremendous battling attitude under Ryan Moore, before a victory on home soil in this very race, squeezing out Hamish by just under a length.

At this stage many were impressed by Kyprios's seemingly brilliant understanding that he only needed to exert himself just enough to win his races, however what he did next at Longchamp blew that theory out of the water. Despite wandering from one side of the French track to the other, this stunning front-running performance saw Kyprios devour his rivals in the Prix Du Cadran by 20 lengths in what was one of the most awe inspiring staying displays of any era. Yes, the ground was very soft which perhaps extenuated his superiority, but the manner of his victory was a sight to behold.

In the aftermath of this race the sky really did seem the limit for Kyprios but sadly a joint infection meant he was ruled out for almost 12 months. Aidan O'Brien has calmed the nerves of fans by saying the stayer is fine and could've run earlier if really needed, but thankfully we will see him again come Sunday in this race. I personally cannot wait to see him back on track to defend his Irish St Leger crown and as much as he may not be at his brilliant best on reappearance from such a long absence, I'm confident his superiority will be evident and he will go back to back.

His four rivals are all fair horses, but stablemate Emily Dickinson is 10lbs better on soft and the glorious weather is doing her no favours. Eldar Eldarov is going for the Irish Leger after winning last year's English renewal and rates to my eye the biggest danger, but the white faced Chestnut stunner Kyprios is simply better than him and if even at 75% I'd imagine will see him off. Ryan Moore will look after his mount but this is a big prize worth targeting and hopefully the Ballydoyle team have got him cherry ripe. I am sure I'm not the only one who'd love to see him blitz to the front and not see another rival in the manner of his Longchamp win.

The pace doesn't look overly strong here and perhaps one of the outsiders Yashin or Dawn Rising could try to steal the race off the front end. The latter named in particular still looks to have a bit of improvement in him, but surely doesn't have enough to beat a running to form Kyprios. Perhaps that could be a forecast play if you are that way inclined, but for tipping purposes I'll keep it simple and say Kyprios at above evens is a knocking punt.