BOOKIES have slashed the price of an Aidan O’Brien Royal Ascot runner – amid huge fears over his legendary stablemate.
Aidan O’Brien had ante-post backers in a tizz after he gave a worrying update on Kyprios following his Saval Beg victory last Friday.
GettyRecent Ormonde Stakes winner Illinois is your new favourite for the Ascot Gold Cup[/caption]
The best stayer of his generation appeared to walk away gingerly from the winner’s enclosure at Leopardstown.
A post from Coolmore’s X page on Saturday read: “Kyprios is very good this morning and is sound.
“We think he knocked his pastern after turning sharply in the winner’s enclosure.
“X-rays and scans were all clean and we are very happy with him.”
And Ballydoyle boss O’Brien confirmed everything was ‘100 per cent’ on Sunday in an interview with Racing TV.
He said: “We got his pictures taken and as he went to walk off we think he crossed his legs and caught the outside of his ring bone.
“Bone pain can be very sore and he walked away lame.
“We didn’t know what was wrong but we scanned him and that was perfect.
“He was 100 per cent the next morning and cantered today (Sunday) so we think that’s what it was.
“He’s probably the most scanned and X-rayed horse ever because of his history.
“There will never be any chance taken with him – but Dean rode him in a canter and seemed very happy with him.”
The superstar stayer has swept all before him and was odds-on favourite for a third Gold Cup.
But that looks like it could be up in smoke now after stablemate Illinois was obliterated from 6-1 into 9-4 for the same race.
Kyprios saw his own price go from 10-11 right out to 6-4 – amid fears the initial X-rays may not have revealed the true extent of his niggle.
Coral’s David Stevens said: “Although Kyprios was given the all clear following his recent injury scare, and does remain favourite for a third Gold Cup win, his stablemate Illinois has been all the rage for the Ascot contest, and his price has collapsed from 6-1 to 9-4 in a matter of hours.”
Paddy Power and Sky Bet pushed Kyprios right out to 5-2, with Illinois as short as 13-8 with them.
O’Brien simply will not risk his Gold Cup king if he is not totally fit and healthy.
In the words of the trainer himself, it’s a ‘miracle’ the horse is even racing again after his life hung in the balance when a joint injury became infected.
Kyprios was forced to miss most of the 2023 season as he came back from the brink.
But he has won his past nine races and amassed £2.7million in prize money for his owners.
Should injury force him out of Ascot then it would be a huge blow to O’Brien and punters – especially as he was arguably the good thing of the week from a betting perspective.
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