• Royal Ascot

Rite of Passage out of Royal Ascot

Fame and Glory is the favourite for the Gold Cup © Getty Images

Enlarge

Related Links

• News: Derby winner Barzalona gets Delegator ride at Ascot
  
• News: Frankel on course for Bassett clash
  

Rite Of Passage will not defend his Gold Cup crown at Royal Ascot next week. Dermot Weld's seven-year-old was the major absentee at the confirmation stage for Thursday's two-and-a-half mile showpiece.

Aidan O'Brien's Fame And Glory, who beat Rite of Passage at Leopardstown last month, heads a field of 16, with Yorkshire Cup winner Duncan and Kasbah Bliss possible challengers.

"Unfortunately, Rite Of Passage will not be running at Royal Ascot as I feel he wouldn't be 100 per cent right to do himself justice in the Gold Cup," Weld said.

"We had to make the hard decision and we made it this morning. It is a pity but he has had training problems and, while he ran a very good trial for the Gold Cup when finishing third in the Saval Beg Stakes at Leopardstown last month and had worked very well early this week, I wasn't happy with him."

Meanwhile, O'Brien has confirmed that Ryan Moore will ride So You Think in Wednesday's Prince of Wales's Stakes. Moore rode the five-year-old to victory in the Tattersalls Gold Cup at the Curragh, and O'Brien revealed that collaboration was with Ascot in mind.

"The reason Ryan rode him at the Curragh was because the lads had asked him to ride at Ascot and when he said he could, everyone was very anxious that he could get to sit on him before then and the best place to do that was in the Tattersalls," O'Brien told At The Races.

"The plan is hopefully that he will ride him at Ascot and we'll see after that. He's a big cruiser so it's hard to know exactly what his best trip is. You wouldn't be afraid to run him over a mile on what he has shown at home but it will be interesting to see what happens at Ascot."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.