Dream Of Dreams ‘very, very well’ after deserved Ascot success

But July Cup bid looks unlikely, with Maurice de Gheest possible.

Dream Of Dreams’ connections were left delighted after he made it third time lucky when taking the Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot.

The Sir Michael Stoute-trained seven-year-old avenged his two prior narrow losses in the race when claiming a one-length victory under Ryan Moore in the Group One contest.

Beaten by just a head in both 2019 and 2020, the chestnut was this time victorious as he battled past Glen Shiel and Art Power to prevail as the 3-1 favourite.

Bruce Raymond, racing manager to owner Saaed Suhail, reported Dream Of Dreams to have taken his exertions well.

“We were delighted, and he’s come out of the race very, very well,” he said.

“He’s usually a bit stiff but this time he wasn’t, most sprinters are a bit stiff afterwards and whether it was the easy ground, I don’t know, but he’s come out of it remarkably well.

“His owner was absolutely delighted, he wanted to know if he can keep the trophy so I said ‘no, you have to win it twice’ and he just said ‘well we’ll do it next year then!’.”

Raymond also praised the training performance of Stoute, who produced the horse to a Group One victory having only run once this term when taking the Listed Leisure Stakes at Windsor in May.

Sir Michael Stoute walks in with Dream Of Dreams
Sir Michael Stoute walks in with Dream Of Dreams (Andrew Matthews/PA)

“It was a fantastic performance, of course from the horse but I think also from Michael,” he said.

“He looks straightforward but he’s a horse that doesn’t work with any other horses at all and exercises mostly on his own, not because he’s crazy or anything, I just think it suits him better.

“I haven’t seen him gallop, he just breezes on his own and to do it with a seven-year-old is good, to get him there in a top-class race without a prep run is pretty clever.”

Dream Of Dreams holds an entry for the six-furlong July Cup at Newmarket in just under three weeks, but his presence is not guaranteed as there are some questions over the suitability of the July course track.

“I don’t know (if he’ll run) but I would doubt it, I’m just not sure about him going down the hill at Newmarket,” Raymond said.

Ryan Moore explains how it was done on Dream Of Dreams
Ryan Moore explains how it was done on Dream Of Dreams (David Davies/PA)

“Maybe the race in Deauville over six and a half furlongs (Prix Maurice de Gheest), we might step him up, there’s only certain races we can go for when you’ve got to stick to a pattern.”

The Diamond Jubilee Stakes was a ‘win and you’re in’ contest for the Breeders’ Cup Turf Sprint, a race that will this year be run over five furlongs as the meeting is due to be hosted by Del Mar racecourse, a track that cannot accommodate a sprint race over a longer distance.

As a result Raymond considers it unlikely that the son of Dream Ahead will venture to the States, though the race is still some time away and has not yet been discussed with all parties.

“I personally think the horse would get a mile in America, but it hasn’t been discussed, these are only just my thoughts,” he said.

“I think he’d get the mile in America, I really do, because he stays the seven (furlongs) well at Newbury.

“The Breeders’ Cup Sprint I think would be too sharp for him, they’d be gone.”

Sir Michael Stoute has plenty to look forward to with Dream Of Dreams and Astro King
Sir Michael Stoute has plenty to look forward to with Dream Of Dreams and Astro King (David Davies/PA)

Alongside Dream Of Dream’s triumph, Royal Ascot also provided Suhail with a second-placed finish in the Royal Hunt Cup when Astro King took the runner-up spot behind Saeed bin Suroor’s Real World.

“Astro King ran a great race,” Raymond said of the performance.

“I think he’s progressive, we expected him to run like that.

“I think he’s one of those horses that could continue to improve.”

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