Rite Of Passage to miss Gold Cup

LAST year’s winner Rite Of Passage is the major absentee following the confirmation stage for the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot on Thursday.

Dermot Weld’s seven-year-old was a creditable third behind fellow Gold Cup aspirant Fame And Glory on his seasonal reappearance in the Saval Beg Stakes at Leopardstown, but Weld revealed earlier this week he had suffered a setback.

Connections had hoped the chestnut may be able to defend his crown, but he is now ruled out of the two-and-a-half-mile Ascot showpiece.