Frankly it’s a dream Dewhurst

By Alan Conway

Are you ready? It may only be a horse race but the 2010 running of the Dewhurst stakes should be a humdinger. There has rarely been more excitement over a juvenile race. It’s easy to understand.

Founded by Tom Gee and first run in 1875, the Dewhurst Stakes has become the premier juvenile race in Europe and has for decades thrown up future champions. From Nijinsky through to New Approach the Dewhurst has crowned champion two-year-olds and provided great memories. This year we could be treated to something very special.

We have on our hands three potential champions. One will triumph. But which one? Are you with “Frankel the Freak”? Are you dreaming ahead of Dewhurst glory for the David Simcock-trained colt? Or are you siding with silky smooth Saamid? Maybe you fancy an outsider to spoil the party. Whatever your fancy it should be a race to savour.

Starting with the favourite Frankel, named after legendary American trainer Bobby Frankel, it is hard to find any flaws in his makeup. He has been so eye rubbingly brilliant in his races thus far that he could just be far too good for his rivals. He followed up his Doncaster, which he one in a very quick time, with a display that had people reaching for the dictionary to find new superlatives to describe the performance. Simply put it was awesome.

It was the manner in which he quickened off the bend that made the heart skip a beat. You could see the change of gear in front of your eyes and just when you thought he would run out of gas he kept going away from the rest of the field. It was a staggering performance and I hope we see something similar.

The worry that supporters of Frankel have is that there could be another colt even better than him. You don’t see too many Group 1s won by nine lengths. That’s what Dream Ahead did in the Middle Park. Again, like Frankel, it was the manner in which he travelled and the way he put clear water between himself and the opposition that really took the eye. At this stage Dream Ahead has achieved more in his career. Do you go for the potential of Frankel or the proven ability of Dream Ahead? It’s a tough call.

But could the big two be put to the sword by Saamid, a horse nicknamed “Pegasus” in the yard at Godolphin. Like the top two in the market it’s hard to knock him. His Champagne victory smacked of real class. It’s rare now that you see Frankie Dettori so animated about a horse and after the Champagne you could see the regard the Italian has for this colt. My gut feeling is that he just might struggle a little bit to cope with the top two.

All we need now is for the main protagonists to arrive fit and well on Saturday so we can let the battle commence. Where is my money going? Frankly I will be gutted if anything gets near Frankel.

By Alan Conway