O'Brien hoping rain stays away Aidan O'Brien is hoping the forecast rain does not have too much effect on the ground ahead of Fame And Glory's bid for the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot on Thursday. Having met with defeat in two runs after winning the Gold Cup 12 months ago, the six-year-old returned to Ascot to win on Champions Day and also scored first time out this season. Likely to go off a short-priced favourite, he will bid to give O'Brien a sixth Gold Cup after the heroics of four-time winner Yeats. O'Brien said: "He's in very good form but I just hope they don't get much more rain. "If they do his class might not shine through. I hope it stays dry for him." Dr Jim Hay, who owns Fame And Glory along with the Coolmore triumvirate of John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith, has dreams that he can go some way to emulating Yeats. He told At The Races: "The word from Ballydoyle is that they think Fame And Glory is even better than he was last year and that seems to be reflected in his price. "Joseph (O'Brien) was really happy with him on the day. He phoned me up after the race and said everything he asked him to do, he did with great ease and confirming what Aidan has been saying (that) he's probably better than last year. "As long as it's not extreme conditions at either end of the scale, he should run well. "There are a lot of incidents that go into preparing a horse but Aidan is a genius. He's the master at preparing a horse for the big occasion and we're very, very hopeful. "For us, this an enormous privilege to be aligned with John Magnier, Michael Tabor and Derrick Smith. It's a huge honour. "To win another would be a dream and hopefully we'll be back again next year maybe. "The ambition we've got is to be aiming for what Yeats did." Saeed bin Suroor is another watching the skies for Frankie Dettori's mount Colour Vision. "Colour Vision showed a good turn of foot when he won at Kempton Park and he came out of that run in good order," Bin Suroor told www.godolphin.com. "He had a good blow out on Sunday and I am looking forward to seeing how he gets on, although he wouldn't want the ground to be soft." John Oxx feels Saddler's Rock has the hallmarks of a top stayer as he prepares for his biggest test. The County Kildare trainer sent out Enzeli to take the stayers' championship in 1999 and has a leading contender this time in the lightly-raced four-year-old. He has only had seven starts, but has already shown himself to be of a decent standard, beating Opinion Poll in the Doncaster Cup last September. He is, however, tackling Group One company for the first time, as well as stepping up to two and a half miles. "He won at Doncaster, he beat Opinion Poll and he beat him well," Oxx told British Champions Series TV. "He stays well but he's got a good turn of foot when you shake him up and give him a crack of the whip, he seems to find a lot. "He races lazily and conserves his energy which is what you need for Cup races. "He just lobs along, doesn't pull, he's very relaxed off the bridle and then produces a good turn of foot at the end. "That's a rare quality in a horse that stays an extreme distance as usually they're a bit one-paced." Jockey Johnny Murtagh expects the four-year-old to be all the better for his seasonal reappearance in the Saval Beg Stakes. "He'll improve for the run, he's a bit lazy at home and he didn't have a straightforward preparation," Murtagh told At The Races. "I think he'll definitely come on for the run. He's come out of the race well and John Oxx is very happy with him. "I don't think there'll ever be another Yeats, but Fame And Glory is a very classy horse. "Two and a half miles stretches him to the limit, he might not be a thorough stayer like Yeats, it's more his class that gets him through. "He's a very high-class horse and the ground will be on the easy side again so he's the one to beat."
