KYP DOUBLE CROWNS IT FOR AIDAN

Ballydoyle comeback star highlights Royal meeting with 'millions-to-one' Ascot Gold Cup triumph

Every sport needs heroes - and brilliant performances with an emotional backstory are a sure recipe for super-stardom.

When Kyprios crowned an astonishing comeback from life-threatening sickness to become the first horse since Kayf Tara - 24 years ago - and just the second ever to regain Royal Ascot's Gold Cup it was truly a 'dainty dish to set before the King"!

Aidan O'Brien hailed it as a "millions to one" success - though punters showed every confidence, hammering the 6yo in to a near-evens bookie basher. And it was a welcome crowd-pleaser as the Royal meeting's attendances, up again on 2023, continued to buck depressing trends.

The Ballydoyle ace had won the Group 1 Thursday highlight in 2022 but was forced to miss last year's race after suffering an infection in a fetlock joint.

But Kyprios (11/10F) stormed back to his best, becoming a record ninth winner of Royal Ascot's famous staying race for O'Brien.

It was an astonishing 89th course success for the Ballydoyle maestro but he rates it one of his greatest yet.