“The horse is clearly never going to run in the Gold Cup now, given his age.”
Not so sure about that.
Horses are generally assumed to lose their speed (i.e. to get slower) as they age; there aren’t any seriously impressive staying novices coming through; other than Gaelic Warrior, Willie doesn’t appear to have any obvious Gold Cup horse for 2027 (unless Final Demand wins by a distance) at this stage.