Fame And Glory victorious in Gold Cup

Fame And Glory surges to victory in the Gold Cup.  Image courtesy of racingfotos.com.

Yeats may have been retired, but Aidan O’Brien has a new Gold Cup star in his stable in the shape of Fame And Glory.

Always travelling well not far off the pace under a patient Jamie Spencer ride, he made his move with just over two furlongs to run of the marathon two and a half mile trip.

In front over a furlong from home, he was soon in total command and passed the post three lengths ahead of the runner-up, Opinion Poll, with French raider Brigantin another four and a half lengths back in third.

Fame And Glory returned to the Ascot winner’s enclosure to rapturous applause, just a few yards from the statue of Yeats, the record-breaking four-time Gold Cup winner.

The big question now is can Fame And Glory get close to matching Yeats’ formidable achievement.

Four Gold Cups may be highly unlikely, but it would be a brave man who would bet against him making it two next year.

A trip to Paris in October for the Qatar Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe is the plan for Fame And Glory prior to any thoughts of that, however.

A jubilant O’Brien said: "I’m delighted for everybody and for Jamie, who gave him a great ride.

"Very few mile-and-a-quarter Group One winners you see running run in a Gold Cup.

"When horses have so much class they can often stay – class makes them stay.

"It’s the ultimate test of class when you go that extreme distance.

"I’m just very privileged to have him.

"The plan was after today to give him a break and train him for the Arc again, so we’ll take one step at a time and do like we always did with Yeats and give him a run at the back-end.

"We’ll give him a break now and hopefully give him a run before the Arc.

"The Gold Cup next year? Wouldn’t it be marvellous."

For the full result and winning connections’ quotes, click here.