Cyrname is “bang where we want him to be,” said his trainer Paul Nicholls ahead of the eight-year-old’s run in the Betfair Ascot Chase on Saturday, for which he is 8/15 favourite with thw aponaora to repeat his 2019 success in the Grade 1 2m 5f race.
“Ascot is a track he loves,” said Nicholls. “He takes a little bit of time to come to himself between races, but he schooled this morning under Harry [Cobden] and jumped nicely. He had a little away-day last week, and worked very well on Saturday morning. He’s bang fresh and well.”
Cyrname, a French-bred son of Nickname owned by Sam de la Hey, was very impressive when beating Altior by two and a quarter lengths to win the Grade 2 Christy 1965 Chase – over the same distance as the Betfair Ascot Chase – at Ascot in November. He then finished second to his stablemate Clan Des Obeaux in the Grade 1 King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day, his first attempt at three miles.
“Obviously in hindsight the Kempton race came a bit quick after Ascot,” observed Nicholls. “If we were to go to the King George again, I probably wouldn’t use the Ascot race as a preparation. He is so good fresh that I might even go there first time out. Ascot left a bit of a mark on him, and Clan Des Obeaux was obviously on fire that day at Kempton. Cyrname still ran well to finish second, though.
“He has taken a while to come to himself after that, but he’s not a big, heavy, strong horse like Denman – he’s more of a fragile, Kauto Star-like horse and you’ve just got to mind him a fraction.”
Looking ahead, Nicholls said: “I would say if he runs on Saturday then he won’t go to Cheltenham, because it’s too close for him.
“We will more likely think of another plan, Aintree or Punchestown or something like that. He’s a horse who you need to take each race at a time with and not really make a forward plan, but if he runs on Saturday I would say there’s virtually no chance of him going to Cheltenham.”
Nicholls added that Cyrname has grown up and settled so much that he will run in a snaffle bit for the first time at Ascot, having previously run in a stronger Dexter ring-bit.
“He used to be a tearaway at home and all you could do was go up the hill [Nicholls’ famously steep gallop] with him as you couldn’t stop him. But he’s relaxed now, and you can train him normally and do anything with him,” he said.
“But everyone thinks he’s a speed horse – he’s not, he’s a relentless galloper, a stayer, and he’ll get three miles easily.”
“Frodon has been left in the Betfair Ascot Chase at the moment; he won’t run against Cyrname but if anything happened, God forbid, to Cyrname this week, then I’ve got an able substitute in him. I’m not going to run them against each other though – he is in as a precaution, and if he doesn’t run on Saturday he will go straight to the Ryanair Chase or the Gold Cup at Cheltenham, almost certainly the Ryanair Chase.”
Betfair Ascot Chase, Betfair odds: 8/15 Cyrname; 11/4 Riders Onthe Storm; 6/1 Frodon; 10/1 Janika; 14/1 Saint Calvados, Top Notch; 66/1 Traffic Fluide