Winter Dream

Winter Dream looks worth another chance after his run to finish second in the two-and-a-half-mile Group 1 Prix Du Cadran on Arc day at Longchamp. He was held up at the rear of the field throughout the race, and although he travelled well enough on the ground for most of the way, he was the first one off the bridle as they approached the straight, while still detached from the field. But he picked up well once Ioritz Mendizabal switched him to the wide outside down the straight, and he stayed on well all the way to the line, pricking his ears a little, to take second behind Glentoo and finish in front of Kasbah Bliss, despite the fact that Mendizabal dropped his whip at the two-furlong pole.

Although the ground was fairly soft here, Winter Dream cannot have it soft enough, he showed lots of knee action and he looked like he needed every yard of the two-and-a-half-mile trip. He could be underrated next time out, he has only ever won at listed level, and although this was an admittedly fairly weak Group 1 contest, it was still a solid performance by Robert Collet’s gelding to stay on into second place. He will do even better if he gets softer ground before the end of the year, perhaps in the Prix Royal-Oak, which is run over two miles, a distance over which he has won three times.

3rd October 2010

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