Dream Of Dreams gets his day in the sun with Sprint Cup victory

Beaten in heartbreaking style in the last two renewals of the Diamond Jubilee at Royal Ascot, Dream Of Dreams deservedly had his day in the sun with a victory in the Haydock Sprint Cup.

Murphy in Dreamland

It’s been very often a case of nearly, but not close enough, for Sir Michael Stoute’s Dream Of Dreams. A horse with a huge amount of ability, up until his last two starts, he’d been without a group success.

Finishing second on nine occasions on his career, five of those near-misses came at group level. The most agonising of those both came at Royal Ascot, beaten a head in last two renewals of the Diamond Jubilee.

The curse has been broken, however, as building on his impressive Group 2 victory at Newbury in the Hungerford, he was a comfortable winner of the Sprint Cup at Haydock. Sent off the 5/2 favourite, he was always seen travelling ominously well under Oisin Murphy.

Switched out at the two-furlong pole, he showed a smart turn of foot to glide by his rivals and record a length-success. A deserved first success at the top level, it provided Sir Michael Stoute his third win in the race. It’d been a while between drinks too, with Green Desert and Ajdal winning the race in 1986 and 1987 respectively.

Speaking of the success, Murphy said: “He was explosive on his last start over seven furlongs in the Hungerford at Newbury, but I had no worries. If he jumped and travelled, I thought he could win“.

Doyle falls agonisingly short

The woman of the moment, Hollie Doyle came agonisingly close on Glen Shiel for Archie Watson. Sent off a 25/1 chance, he was tough as nails under a strong drive from Doyle. Tackling Dream Of Dreams with a furlong left to run, he was just outpaced in the closing stages and had to settle for a close second.

Her first domestic Group 1 ride, it certainly won’t be the last for a jockey on a sharp rise.