Fame And Glory provided redemption for Jamie Spencer and Aidan O’Brien as he graduated into a top-level stayer in the Gold Cup.
O’Brien had saddled one Royal Ascot winner this week with Power in Tuesday’s Coventry Stakes but blamed himself for So You Think’s preparation following his agonising Prince of Wales’s Stakes defeat to Rewilding, while Spencer indulged in a spot of mental flagellation over his ride on fifth-placed Gatepost in the Coventry.
Spencer was briefly O’Brien’s stable jockey until he returned to Britain in 2005 but the two men have been reunited by the Dubai-based businessman Jim Hay, who has bought into several of O’Brien’s horses and retains Spencer to ride them.
With O’Brien and his Coolmore employers using the best available jockey this season after the departure of Johnny Murtagh, they will be hard-pushed not to utilise Spencer’s talents more regularly as he rode this potential non-stayer with aplomb.
O’Brien’s Yeats has been recognised with a statue in the parade ring to remember his four Gold Cup victories and although such a feat will surely be beyond Fame And Glory, his previous exploits are more meritorious with an Irish Derby and a Coronation Cup on his CV among four previous Group Ones.
The pressure was on Spencer, as Fame And Glory had to stay an extra four furlongs (800m) than on his recent two-mile (3200m) victory at Leopardstown and was the subject of a monumental gamble as he was sent off the 11-8 favourite.
But he was cool and calculating, not asking his mount to commit until the two-furlong (400m) pole and pushing him home three lengths clear of the staying-on Opinion Poll.
“The paddock at Ascot can be a great place and a very lonely place all in the space of half an hour,” Spencer said.
“I left here the other day wishing I could put a paper bag over my head in case I bumped into anybody on my way to my car.”
The 31-year-old, who joked he “gets on much better” with O’Brien these days, added: “It was a very easy, push-button ride.
“We didn’t go very fast early and I was delighted when I saw Geordieland going around the field with a mile and a half (2400m) to go to inject a bit of pace.
“Aidan’s a great trainer and his first two races this season were all about bringing him on.
“It’s a privilege to ride him. Everybody was doubting him for the last few weeks, but we never had any doubts and I’m absolutely tickled pink.”
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