Fame And Glory for O’Brien
Ballydoyle trainer celebrates Gold Cup and targets success at Longchamp
THE AIDAN O’BRIEN trained Fame And Glory will head for the Arc De Triomphe in October full of confidence after landing a major gamble to take the Ascot Gold Cup on day three of the Royal meeting.
The son of Montjeu was trimmed to 11/8 from 3/1 and justified favouritism by cruising to a three-length victory over Opinion Poll, with French raider Brigantin a further four-and-a-half lengths back in third.
Comparisons will now be drawn between Fame And Glory and Ballydoyle great Yeats, and O’Brien confirmed his latest star will follow a similar path to the four-time Gold Cup winner.
He said: “The plan was after today to give him a break and train him for the Arc, 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.”
It briefly looked as though Opinion Poll might reel in the Ballydoyle horse as he made his charge under Derby winning jockey Mickael Barzalona but Fame And Glory stayed the distance impressively.
O’Brien added: “I’m delighted for everybody and for Jamie Spencer, 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 well-fancied Sagramor won the Britannia Stakes for Hughie Morrison, who landed a significant double when Pisco Sour took the Tercentenary Stakes.
Jim Bolger’s Banimpire won the Group Two Ribblesdale Stakes after a thrilling battle with Field Of Miracles, while Kevin Ryan’s Bapak Chinta won the Norfolk Stakes.
Finally, Brown Panther gave trainer Tom Dascombe his second win of the week in the in the King George V Stakes. It was an emotional success for Manchester United striker Michael Owen, who bred the winner and owns him in the name of Owen Promotions.