O'Brien has ground concern for St George Aidan O'Brien has admitted his concerns about testing conditions ahead of Order Of St George's bid for Gold Cup glory at Royal Ascot. The master of Ballydoyle has saddled a record six previous winners of the two-and-a-half-mile feature, with Yeats landing four consecutive renewals between 2006 and 2009. Last season's impressive Irish St Leger hero Order Of St George dominated his rivals on his return to action in the Saval Beg at Leopardstown and is a warm order to continue his winning spree, but O'Brien is worried about soft ground for a horse who has yet to tackle further than a mile and three-quarters. "Order Of St George handles a dig but going that far, you wouldn't want it too soft," he said. "He is a class horse and was just ready to run when he ran in Leopardstown and hopefully he will have progressed from then. "He does handle an ease, though." Ryan Moore rides the four-year-old for just the second time and the first time since last June, when he was narrowly beaten by stable companion Bondi Beach in the Curragh Cup. Moore said: " Order Of St George is a very exciting horse and hasn't done a lot wrong. It was a nice comeback win from him." One horse unlikely to have any trouble with the anticipated taxing terrain is Peter Niven's stable star Clever Cookie. The former jumper claimed his biggest Flat win to date when landing last month's Yorkshire Cup and is reported to be in fine form. Niven said: " He seems grand and we are ready to go, I think. "My old Ascot hoodoo has struck again with the draw (stall 17), but other than that we're very happy with him. "He'll handle the ground and it just brings staying into the equation, which suits us. "He's getting a bit older - like all of us - so it's probably taken him a bit longer to get going this year. "It's a big day for him but we think he'll be up for it." Sir Mark Prescott seeks a third Royal Ascot winner and a first since Pivotal won the King's Stand 20 years ago with the giant Pallasator. Although recalcitrant on more than one occasion in the past, the seven-year-old was as good as gold when making a successful return to action in last month's Henry II Stakes at Sandown. Prescott s aid: " It will be a horror show of some proportion, although he's a bit more civilised than he used to be! "Andrea (Atzeni) very kindly said last year when he won the Doncaster Cup that if his name was down to ride him every day, he would not come into work! "Last year we ran him at Ascot on British Champions Day and there were seven photographers by the arch waiting for something dreadful to happen. It wasn't pretty, but we all survived. "People get confused by him. They see him so horrible before a race, but once he's at the start and under way he's perfect. "It's getting him from here (pointing to his left) to there (gesturing to his right). I'm sure Ascot will help all they can." Unlike some, Prescott has been delighted with all the rain that has fallen at the track this week and the 68-year-old will not mind any more. "He would not want it too firm, and as heavy as you like," he said. Ireland's all-conquering National Hunt trainer Willie Mullins saddles last year's Lonsdale Cup winner and Melbourne Cup runner-up Max Dynamite. The six-year-old could only finish third when odds-on for the Henry II Stakes, but jockey Pat Smullen feels he is better than he showed that day. "I'm really looking forward to him. Order Of St George is going to be a warm favourite, but Max Dynamite is a very good horse," Smullen told At The Races. "His run in York last year was very good and obviously his run in the Melbourne Cup was very good. If he brings that form, he'll be very competitive. "The Sandown race was a very messy race and I don't think you saw him in a true light at all. "A true-run race will be ideal for him and hopefully the run at Sandown will leave him spot-on for Thursday." Other leading contenders include dual Sagaro Stakes winner Mizzou and Long Distance Cup victor Flying Officer. David Simcock saddles outsiders Curbyourenthusiasm and Sheikhzayedroad and feels the latter in particular is overpriced. "It's a little bit of an insult that he's 50-1. He's a classy horse on his day," said Simcock. "You could see in Dubai earlier in the year he appreciates racing against slightly slower horses. "We don't know if he'll stay, but we'll find out."
