Henry Cecil yesterday reported his St James's Palace Stakes winner Dr Fong "fresh" and "very well" for Saturday's Group One Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot and is hopeful of a bold showing, despite conceding that a mile is not his colt's optimum trip.

Under a brilliant ride from Kieren Fallon, the chestnut wore down David Loder's Desert Prince to lift the St James's Palace Stakes over a mile at Royal Ascot by a neck back in June.

But despite giving the impression he would prove effective over further, Dr Fong, earlier beaten over a mile and a quarter in the Dante Stakes at York, appeared to struggle for stamina when landing the Group Two Prix Eugene Adam at Maisons-Laffitte over that trip on his latest start the following month.

"He's very well, he has had a rest but has been trained up for this race and he runs on Saturday," said the Warren Place trainer.

The ground for Dr Fong's Royal Ascot win was good to soft and, asked if his runner could confirm his superiority over subsequent Prix du Moulin hero Desert Prince, Cecil responded: "I don't know.

"This is faster ground and it will be whoever likes the ground the most. I am not going to prophesy, I just hope he runs very well.

"His best trip is probably a mile and one, but we don't have any mile and ones, do we? It's the only race he can go for and that's that."