New Order For Ascot Showpiece

Before he began his current tenure at Ballydoyle and changed the modern face of racing as a result, Aidan O'Brien was transforming the careers of jumpers at Piltown, and it is that original affinity with the long-distance horses that has now made him one of the most notable names in the story of Royal Ascot's centrepiece G1 Gold Cup. Run on Thursday in honour of the Queen's 90th birthday, the race remains for many second to none as the apex of the week, and the place where history and legacy overtake commercial concerns. It is largely due to Coolmore and Ballydoyle's focus on it as a goal that it has regained some of the mystique of its former days. In just 10 years since he brought the magnificent Yeats (Ire) to record the first of his record-carving four victories, O'Brien has become the race's leading trainer with six wins in total, a staggering feat given the multiple attempts at it by some of the turf's greatest names. In the modern era, Francois Boutin was here on three winning occasions with Sagaro (GB) from 1975-77, Sir Henry Cecil achieved his own measure of glory for four consecutive years from 1979-1982 with the brilliant pair Le Moss (Ire) and Ardross (Ire), and the likes of Dick Hern, Barry Hills and Guy Harwood were also multiple winners.

There is a feeling that Order of St George (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) only needs to turn up to extend O'Brien's sequence, such has been the authority with which he has won his last three starts by a cumulative margin of 23 lengths. Eleven of those separated him from the runner-up in the G1 Irish St Leger over 14 furlongs at The Curragh in September, and now that the rain has come to further aid his cause he cuts a formidable shape. Even his re-introduction in the June 3 G3 Saval Beg S. over 14 furlongs at Leopardstown gave no more cause for optimism among his opponents, as he was still able to dominate on ground that was a shade lively for him. His trainer does have a concern about his stamina on testing ground, however. “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.”

If stamina is an issue for Order of St George, then there are several who lack his class but who have plenty of staying power, such as Rich Ricci's G2 Lonsdale Cup winner and G1 Melbourne Cup runner-up Max Dynamite (Fr) (Great Journey {Jpn}). He was caught out by a slow pace when third on his return to Pallasator (GB) (Motivator {GB}) in the G3 Henry II S. over two miles at Sandown May 26, and if he can build on that he could be the main threat. Jockey Pat Smullen is hoping he can and said, “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. 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.”

Max Dynamite holds Mizzou (Ire) (Galileo {Ire}) on the form of the Lonsdale Cup in August, but that Luca Cumani representative returned with a second consecutive success in this track's G3 Sagaro S. on similar ground over two miles Apr. 27 and remains lightly-raced and potentially progressive. He had Clever Cookie (GB) (Primo Valentino {Ire}) and last year's G2 QIPCO British Champions Long Distance Cup Flying Officer (Dynaformer) behind in the Sagaro and should get a sounder pace than when under four-lengths seventh in this race 12 months ago. Clever Cookie has subsequently been successful in a substandard renewal of the G2 Yorkshire Cup over 14 furlongs at York May 13 and trainer Peter Niven was welcoming the rain on Wednesday. “He seems grand and we are ready to go, I think. My old Ascot hoodoo has struck again with the [wide] draw, but other than that we're very happy with him,” he said. “He'll handle the ground and it just brings staying into the equation, which suits us. He's getting a bit older, 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.”

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