Third time lucky for Dream Of Dreams as seven-year-old lands Diamond Jubilee
Dream Ahead gelding sees off Glen Shiel in thrilling battle on final day of Royal Ascot
It proved to be third time lucky for Dream Of Dreams (7 g Dream Ahead – Vasilia by Dansili) in the Diamond Jubilee Stakes (Gr 1, 6f) at Royal Ascot yesterday as the seven-year-old took out the meeting’s final Group 1 to earn Royal Ascot’s winningmost trainer Sir Michael Stoute his 82nd royal success.
Dream Of Dreams, by former Aquis Farm shuttle sire Dream Ahead (Diktat), finished a head second to Darley shuttler Blue Point (Shamardal) in the 2019 edition of the Diamond Jubilee and was the same distance behind Cambridge Stud’s new addition Hello Youmzain (Kodiac) in last year’s running of the six-furlong contest.
Making his third start in the Saturday feature under Ryan Moore yesterday, Dream Of Dreams battled best of all on the rain-soaked Ascot track to see off fellow seven-year-old Glen Shiel (Pivotal) by a length, with Art Power (Dark Angel) another three-quarters of a length back in third.
“I am delighted – the horse deserves it. The past two years, he has been beaten a head finishing fastest of all, so I am really thrilled for him,” said Stoute, whose only previous win in the race was with Dafayna (Habitat) way back in 1985 when it was known as the Cork And Orrery Stakes and carried Group 3 status.
“He has got more and more relaxed; he doesn’t go to post like a sprinter, does he? I thought he was going to pull up halfway down. He is more relaxed, and a little better. He’s fully developed and strong now. But it’s his mind – he’s really, really chilling.
“He loves a little cut in the ground, but I don’t think he’s run on ground quite as soft as this, so I was a little concerned. Ryan [Moore] had it all planned and it all worked out, and told me what he was doing, so I said, kick on.
“Any winner here is a great thrill, particularly a Group 1. But additionally, this fellow has just been touched off twice, so I’m pleased for him – he deserves it.
“I thought I wasn’t going to have a Royal Ascot winner this year – this is the last runner we’ve got. It’s been tough – it’s always been tough, but it’s tougher.”
Sent off the 3-1 favourite, Dream Of Dreams broke smartly from stall three but was soon restrained by Moore.
With the 12-runner field well strung out across the width of the Ascot straight in search of the best ground, Art Power looked to have his rivals in trouble approaching the final furlong after setting a blistering early pace in the nearside group to open up a wide margin lead.
However, the King Power-owned runner soon ran out of steam and it was left to Dream Of Dreams to fight out the finish with the Hollie Doyle-ridden Glen Shiel, with the former pulling clear in the final few strides to score his second elite-level success and also become just the second seven-year-old in 50 years to win the race.
“Michael has been great to me throughout my whole career and he has got this horse to perform three times in a row here and it is good that he was able to win then,” said Moore.
“He has been a good horse. He has got better every year. A stiff six with cut in the ground is perfect for him.
“Any winner here is important and the bigger the race… a prestigious race like this…it’s great.”
It was another near miss for Glen Shiel’s trainer Archie Watson, who had the Commonwealth Cup (Gr 1, 6f) snatched from his grasp by the stewards on Friday, but he was thrilled with the performance of the runner-up.
“I’m delighted with him. He’s probably put in a career-best performance,” he said. “I’m delighted he’s backed up his Group 1 win with another big run at this level. He’s shown it wasn’t a one off.”
Dream Of Dreams has plenty of Australian-related blood in him, being out of a half-sister to Airwave (Air Express), the grandam of Coolmore Australia shuttle stallion Churchill (Galileo), whose brother Blenheim Palace is trained in Australia by Daniel Bowman.
The best of Vasilia’s (Dansili) nine foals, Dream Of Dreams is a half-brother to the Group 2-placed Silverheels (Verglas) and Listed runner-up Lasilia (Acclamation).
The Saeed Suhail-raced seven-year-old is one of four elite-level winners by Dream Ahead, who shuttled to Australia for seven consecutive breeding seasons between 2012 and 2018.
Shumookh is the best of his Australian-bred progeny, having taken out the Golden Pendant (Gr 2, 1400m) and Tristarc Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) in 2018.
The Queen was in attendance at Royal Ascot for the first time this week to witness the Diamond Jubilee, which will next year be called the Platinum Jubilee as her majesty celebrates the 70th year of her reign in February 2022.