At the end of the 2019/20 National Hunt season, Cyrname was the joint-third highest-rated steeplechaser in training, alongside Min and behind only Chacun Pour Soi and Altior, according to Timeform. Indeed, in November, 2019, the Nickname gelding became the first and, so far, only horse to beat Altior over hurdles or fences when winning the Christy 1965 Chase at Ascot. He was subsequently made favourite for the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day, but could only finish a distant second behind stable companion Clan Des Obeaux and fell, when beaten, at long odds-on in the Betfair Ascot Chase on his only subsequent start.
Both defeats were disappointing, but particularly so the latter. Twelve months previously, Cyrname had brushed aside favourite Waiting Patiently in the Betfair Ascot Chase, drawing away in the closing stages to win, impressively, by 17 lengths. Trainer Paul Nicholls reported the eight-year-old ‘exactly where we want him’ ahead of his bid to win the race for the second year running but, once headed by eventual winner Riders Onthe Storm at the third last, never looked like doing so and parted company with jockey Harry Cobden at the final fence.
Cyrname has not run since, but Nicholls recently reported him ‘in very good form’ and ‘well on schedule’. The original plan to run him in the Ladbrokes Champion Chase at Down Royal on October 31, 2020 was abandoned because of Covid-19 pandemic restrictions, but he has been re-routed to the Bet365 Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby on the same day. Cyrname has raced just once, without success, beyond 2 miles and 5 furlongs, but Nicholls wants to try him over three miles again in preparation for another tilt at the King George VI Chase, for which he is currently 16/1 ante post.