Rite of Passage, which was last seen finishing third in the Neptune Investment Management Novices’ Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival, returned triumphantly to the Flat in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot. The six-year-old certainly pulled a surprise by outdueling Age of Aquarius and winning the Group 1 race.

The winner was ridden by Pat Smullen and he won by a neck in record time, running the two and a half miles in 4:16.92 - 1.37 seconds better than the previous mark. Purple Moon finished third in the 12-horse field, while Ask finished sixth and Manifest ended in the tenth position.

Rite of Passage challenged the leaders of the race when there were only two furlongs left. When there was only one furlong to finish the race, the son of Giant’s Causeway pulled ahead of favorite Age of Aquarius and Rite of Passage finally triumphed to win his fifth race in a total of 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 commented after winning his first Gold Cup. The event was attended by Queen Elizabeth II on Ladies’ Day at Royal Ascot and Frankie Dettori managed to get his second winner of the event with Hibaayeb who won the Ribblesdale Stakes.