Arazi did not have an “injury”. He was found to have bone chips on his knees and the decision was made by the owners (Allen Paulson and Sheikh Mohammed) to operate to remove them. Nobody will ever know whether doing nothing would have been a better decision. They certainly weren’t slowing him down!
That was impressive from Dream Ahead, he has proved he is no mudlark today. Judging by his 6 furlong form we could well have a sprinting superstar. Ashame he wasn't in the Golden Jubilee at Ascot
Agreed, that was very impressive. A short burst of acceleration in the last 50 yards and it as all over. Reminded me of Petite Ãtoile.
shergy like a said all last year, he is bred for sprinting and proved that today. A sprinter through and through. And again he proved how stupidly catious his trainer is by winning on genuinly good ground, the second time he has dones so. Would love to see him aimed at the Abbaye. Nice to see Turner get her group 1, even if it was a complete hands and heels win.
Well as you know I told everyone Dream Ahead was the real deal, and tipped him up in all 3 of his 2yo wins, yet some tried to claim Wooton Basset was better, eh Hardy! If they had stuck to 5-6f then he would still be unbeaten, they have to take in the Nunthorpe and the Abbaye now
i happily admit that i thought wooton bassett would turn out the better horse over a mile, but it looks increasingly like he hasn't brought his ability forward to this year. You did say Dream Ahead would be the real deal, but you were adamant it would be over a mile, though he does still have time to prove he can win top races over a mile in my opinion as his comeback run in the st james palace was very good for his first run of season. anyway just happy that dream ahead is proving to be the sprinter i always said and thought he would be.
Glad I backed Dream Ahead at 12s the other night, though must say my confidence wained (quite a bit) with the drying conditions but as Shergy says he is certainly not a mudlark after today. Delegator is nothing special and I thought he was underpriced considering what he beat the last day. Bated Breath still has scope to improve but Dream Ahead simply outclassed them with ease, in fact I've rarely seen a Group One sprint won as easily for quite a while. I don't even think Hayley had to show him the whip, that says it all really
Hardy.....I did not say he would prove the real deal just over a mile, I said he would be the real deal over all distances up to a mile. I have always maintained he was a top class sprinter, and I made an article on Golden Juvilee day on this forum that Dream Ahead would have pissed home had he been entered in the race with the soft ground. I didnt fancy him today because of the ground, but he is clearly still a very good animal on good to firm. Like i told you all along Wooton Basset was the most overrated 2yo of last season, he beat next to nothing, and was targeted at poor races, that's why he was unbeaten. Dream Ahead is a completely different class of animal! Beef....Id completely agree, Dream Ahead was hugely impressive, I remember Starspangledbanner getting loads of praise last season, yet he was flogged in every sprint he won. As soon as DA seen daylight he just cruised to the front
Do we finally appear to have a top class European sprinter?Its been a long long time,but the ease of the victory suggests that we might have.
I hope so. I think this is the very first impressive winner of a pattern sprint i can remember seeing. He won very easily and the whip wasn't needed at all. He looked very smart and that performance on good to firm ground opens up a whole load of options. My one question mark was whether it was the 'brilliant training performance' that some have suggested. It appears that Simcock knew full well he wasn't a miler and yet he persevered down that route for half a season. Whether this was down to owner pressure i don't know. Surely he should have been in the Golden Jubilee at Royal Ascot. He'd have pissed it on today's showing. I just feel that he's been wasted for half the season, sitting in his box pretending to be a miler when he isn't.
As far as sprinting goes he has only missed Royal Ascot, he still has the Nunthorpe, Sprint Cup and Abbaye. Then they could go BC sprint, or even to Australia and attempt to lower the colours of Black Caviar
With all the comments about going it sometimes makes you wonder if trainers (and pundits) really know what going their horses run on. Dream Ahead wasn't the only horse mentioned today as running on going unsuitable for him. Bell has been withdrawing Tactician if it gets soft and was talking about withdrawing him at York. On Good/Good to Soft he runs his best race ever (look at his record and he's never run on worst than good: so how do they say what they say). I think Hayley Turner's ride was a bit more than a steering job. Plenty of jockeys would have blown that today going for the wrong gap. With a cool head she waited for the right gap and then won comfortably. But who's to say the way she rode him isn't the best way to ride him.
I think people must be very well informed to go around and state that 'It appears full well that Simcock knew he wasn't a miler' Sometimes I wonder why they even pay trainers to do the job at all! I would suggest the the fact he stayed 6 furlongs in soft ground as a 2 year old gave him some hope that he would stay but who am I to question
Cheers Bustino I do sometimes find it hard to accept people on an internet forum know horses better than those who train them
It was impressive but I wouldn't get too carried away by that win today. He won easily but so did Delegator at York. At York Delegator beat Hitchins by 1.5l. Dream Ahead beat him 2l Delegator beat Genki by 5l. Dream Ahead beat him 3l+ Today Delegator did not get a clear run over 1f out and finished 1l behind Hitchins and a nose in front of Genki. Ignoring Regal Parade, for now, on a line through both Hitchins and Genki, Delegator should have run 2.5l and 5l better than he did today. On the lesser of the 2 that puts him 0.5l ahead of Dream Ahead had he had a clear run. Of course there is no telling just by how much Dream Ahead could have won but on a strict form line he is no world beater yet; and the time wasn't lightning fast either. However if he is even better on soft then that could augur well for the Abbaye, except that race is over 5f.
Dream Ahead won hands and heels. There's no worthwhile comparison with Delegator in my eyes. In softer ground the margin would be even greater in favour of Dream Ahead
