'He was very, very high-class' - Paul Nicholls announces retirement of Cyrname

Cyrname, the horse who ended Altior's record-breaking winning run, has been retired from racing. The ten-year-old, trained by Paul Nicholls and owned by Johnny de la Hey, became Britain's highest-rated chaser when recording a breathtaking 17-length success in the Ascot Chase in 2019.

He returned to the course a few months later for a much-anticipated head-to-head clash with Altior in the Christy 1965 Chase and powered clear to end his rival's four-year unbeaten run.

Superb Cyrname ends Altior's undefeated run in thrilling Ascot clash

Cyrname won only once more and was pulled up on his last three starts. He had undergone wind surgery since his latest run in October but he failed to show enough in his work to warrant running at Sandown last month. He retires with eight wins from 23 starts and will now enjoy a new life in hunting and team chasing, an equestrian discipline.

Cyrname: achieved an RPR of 181 for his brilliant Ascot Chase win in 2019Credit: Dan Abraham

Nicholls said: "We were hoping to run him in the Oaksey Chase at Sandown but he just wasn't quite up to it when we did a strong piece of work with Greaneteen and another horse. He wasn't sparkling so we decided between us all that we'd draw stumps.

"He's joined Charlotte Alexander who has had Earthmover, Denman and Saphir Du Rheu and does the team chasing and hunting. He was going to do something else as he's only a young horse and that's helped him.

"Half his life was racing and it's great that he's got something to do for the other half. It's better when they're active, he'll have a great home and I think he'll be fantastic for that job."

Cyrname reached a peak official rating of 177 when lowering the colours of Altior, while he is one of only five to post a Racing Post Rating of over 180 in the past five seasons.

Nicholls added: "He was a very, very high-class horse. We had a few ups and downs, he started off slow and I remember we won at Huntingdon and he settled and kept going forward from then.

"He had that time when he won the two Ascot races then came back and won the match with Altior. He had that golden spell when he was at that high level. He had issues and wasn't easy to train but he was great to have and I'm glad he'll have a good second life."

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Superb Cyrname ends Altior's undefeated run in thrilling Ascot clash

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