Rite of Passage wins prestigious Gold Cup at Royal Ascot, breaks track record

Rite of Passage wins Royal Ascot’s Gold Cup

ASCOT, England — Rite of Passage pulled off a surprise in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot on Thursday, outdueling Age of Aquarius in the stretch and winning the Group 1 race at odds of 20-1.

The 6-year-old gelding ridden by Pat Smullen won in record time, covering the 2½-miles in 4:16.92 — 1.37 seconds better than the course mark.

Purple Moon was another six lengths back in third in the 12-horse field, with 11-4 favorite Ask fifth and 7-2 second choice Manifest 10th.

With about two furlongs left, Rite of Passage challenged the leaders. The son of Giant’s Causeway then pulled ahead Age of Aquarius with about a furlong to go and the two battled to the wire before Rite of Passage prevailed for his fifth win in his last six starts.

“It’s a race I’ve always wanted to win and two previous runners, Vinnie Roe and Vintage Crop, finished second, so I thought it could be third time lucky.” trainer Dermot Weld said after his first Gold Cup win.

With Queen Elizabeth II in attendance on Ladies’ Day at Royal Ascot, Frankie Dettori rode his second winner of the meet when he took the Ribblesdale Stakes on Hibaayeb.

Also, Approve won the Norfolk Stakes with Reckless Reward, Ransom Note won the Britannia Stakes, Afsare won the Hampton Court Stakes and Dandino won the King George V Stakes.

Rite of Passage had won his two previous starts on the flat, but recently finished third in the Neptune Investment Management Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival. He rebounded in a big way with his gutsy win over Age Of Aquarius.

“He ran very respectably,” Age of Aquarius co-owner Derrick Smith said. “I thought he was going to get swamped a furlong out but he kept going and stayed every yard. He was beaten by a better horse on the day.”