ASCOT, England: Fame And Glory won the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot Thursday, giving Irish trainer Aidan O'Brien a fifth victory in the prestigious race. The favorite, ridden by Jamie Spencer, won the 2½-mile (4-kilometer) race by three lengths ahead of Opinion Poll. Brigantin, which also went out at 16-1, was 4½ lengths further back in third. “We didn't go very fast early,” Spencer said. “My fellow wasn't keen, but because he has so much class he is used to going that bit quicker ... Aidan's a great trainer and his first two races this season were all about bringing him on. “Everybody was doubting him for the last few weeks, but we never had any doubts and I'm absolutely tickled pink.” The five-year-old Fame And Glory's stablemate Yeats won the Gold Cup four consecutive times for O'Brien between 2006 and 2009. Queen Elizabeth II, who unveiled a statute of Yeats at Ascot Tuesday, presented the Gold Cup to O'Brien. In the King George V Stakes, Manchester United striker Michael Owen was celebrating when Brown Panther finished six lengths ahead of Census. The joint-favorite, which is trained by Tom Dascombe and ridden by Richard Kingscote, is part of Owen's Manor House stables in northern England.
