Fame And Glory king of stayers
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 among four previous Group Ones.
The pressure was on Spencer, as Fame And Glory had to stay an extra four furlongs than on his recent two-mile victory at Leopardstown and was the subject of a monumental gamble as a Ladies Day crowd sent him off the 11-8 favourite.
But he was cool and calculating, not asking his mount to commit until the two-furlong 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,” said Spencer.
“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 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.”
O’Brien thought back to his old times with Spencer recalling: “I’ve always been an admirer of Jamie.
“When he came to us, he was only a young, little fellow coming into a pressure cooker place like ours. It wasn’t easy for him, and I can probably be a little intense sometimes. But he was a great rider and he still is.”
He continued: “I suppose the Gold Cup is the ultimate test of class, over an extreme distance.
“We’ve seen what it can do to horses but I can’t remember a horse with his class running in a Gold Cup, as a winner of a Group One over a mile and a quarter.
“We felt that if he got two miles, there was a good chance he could carry it off.
Totesport quote Fame And Glory at 16-1 for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, with Boylesports going only 10s.
O’Brien explained: “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 prep before the Arc.
“The Gold Cup next year? Wouldn’t it be marvellous.”
Spencer’s judgment was, however, questioned by the Ascot stewards, who suspended the former champion jockey for four days.
The rider was found guilty of careless riding and using his whip down the shoulder in the forearm position.
Spencer will be sidelined on June 30 and July 1, 3 and 4.
Fame And Glory carried the purple and white of Derrick Smith, one of the Coolmore trio.
“It’s beyond explanation,” said Hay.
“It was a phenomenal result and a great training performance by Aidan. We were here to see a great horse and I knew Jamie could pull it off.”
Godolphin racing manager Simon Crisford said the rain-softened ground had helped Opinion Poll perform so well and he may head to the Goodwood Cup, while connections of Brigantin (third) and Manighar (fourth) are already eyeing November’s Melbourne Cup.
