Goldream prevails in King’s Stand; Buratino continues
ascension in Coventry
Goldream (Oasis Dream) caught 50-1 outsider Medicean Man (Medicean) in the
final strides to win Tuesday’s King’s Stand (Eng-G1) at Royal Ascot by a
short-head, providing trainer Robert Cowell a second victory in the five-furlong
race after Prohibit in 2011.
Winner of the May 2 Palace House (Eng-G3) in his 2015 bow, Goldream rebounded
from a seventh in the May 23 Temple (Eng-G2) to register his first Group 1
tally. The six-year-old improved his overall ledger to 31-6-6-5 and was ridden
by Martin Harley, who recorded his second Royal Ascot winner, the first coming
aboard Elidorin the 2013 King George V Handicap.
The turf was listed as good-to-firm.
“He’s a fast ground horse,” Cowell said. “He’s been training beautifully, but
he’d been training beautifully going into the Temple Stakes. He’s not a soft
ground horse – he loves to hear his feet rattle, and he got that today.
“He’s genuine and wants to win the race and I think that’s such an important
asset in a sprinter. The last furlong felt like four or five minutes, although I
know it was only about 12 seconds. It was a fantastic ride by Martin.”
When asked about his reputation as “the sprint king”, Cowell said: “I’ve been
lucky enough to get some good horses like this and if we can deliver them on the
day that’s fantastic, but the hard part is getting them into the yard. A lot of
trainers can do what I do, but it’s getting them into the yard. When we have
them, we do alright with them.
“We don’t do a huge amount with them once they’re fit, we just keep them
ticking over and let them have their play time and work time — there’s plenty
of down time.”
Goldream is owned by Mr. J. Sergeant and Mrs. J. Morley.
“Mr. Sargeant owns a butcher’s shop near Downham Market and he has been a
super supporter of ours — he has had some lovely horses over the years but this
would be the pinnacle,” Cowell explained. “Mrs. Morley and her son Tom Morley
have had horses with me since I started training and Tom was involved when we
won this race with Prohibit three years ago. I am loving this race!”
Harley was ecstatic to pick up an elusive Group 1 win.
“When you win a Group 1 at Royal Ascot, it makes it a lot more special,” the
jockey noted. “When I kicked and went between them just inside the furlong, he
picked up well and, by God, he is game. I was lucky because I changed my hand
with a furlong to go and nearly dropped my stick. He is very tough and fair play
to Robert — he said that he had the horse in good form.
“The ground obviously has a big part to play. He traveled well at Haydock but
went out very quick. He traveled good today and picked up real smart.”
The well-fancied Muthmir (Invincible Spirit) wound up third. Pearl Secret
(Compton Place) took fourth and 5-2 favorite Sole Power (Kyllachy) was fifth.
“These are hard races to win, but he’s not been beaten far,” trainer Eddie
Lynam said of the eight-year-old gelding Sole Power. “We have no excuses.”
In the Coventry (Eng-G2), Royal Ascot’s leading race for two-year-olds,
Buratino (Exceed and Excel) carried his improving form forward with an
impressive score.
Carrying the colors of Godolphin for the first time, the chestnut exceeded
the expectations of trainer Mark Johnston with the two-length win, but not for
the first time. The Irish-bred colt was exiting a six-length romp in the June 6
Woodcote at Epsom and his record now reads 6-4-1-1.
“He has lived up to expectations and more, because he was beaten at Sandown
and Ascot, and the race he won at Epsom was quite different — it looked so
impressive, but until you meet other six-furlong horses you don’t know,”
Johnston said. “I was delighted with him and the other two (fourth-placed
Beaverbrook [Cape Cross] and fifth-placed Ode To Evening [Poet’s Voice]) who are
both big scopey horses. At one point I thought we might have the first three.”
William Buick was up and Buratino earned quotes of 14-1 and 16-1 for next
year’s English Two Thousand Guineas (Eng-G1) with Ladbrokes and Paddy Power,
respectively.
“Stepping the winner up in trip to six furlongs has been the key, and William
has now ridden him three times. He said Buratino has given him a better feel
with every run,” Johnston said. “I overheard William saying to Sheikh Mohammed
he wouldn’t be afraid of trying seven furlongs later in the year. That said, he
has a lot of speed as well.
“He’s been a busy horse, and was the most experienced in the field today —
he ran on the first day of the season at Chelmsford (March 28) when I was in
Dubai, and on that occasion Simon Crisford said to me, ‘He’s an Ascot horse, you
should put him away for the Coventry.’
“People ask me if he’s improved between races, but I don’t know because he
does nothing at home but eat and sleep. He hasn’t worked or galloped since the
season started which is my normal approach — let’s see what they can do on the
racecourse, and it’s worked out okay.”
Buick was able to get cover before unleashing Buratino’s devastating turn of
foot in the final furlong.
“We had a pretty good run through,” Buick said. “He is not the fastest away
but he has got a great finishing kick. It was great that we got an uninterrupted
run and I could ride him as I liked. It is a long last furlong here at Ascot and
I would have liked to have waited a bit longer but you have to go when you’re
ready and he won really well. He is one of the best two year olds around.”
Buick suggested Buratino is improving all the time.
“He is a horse that has come on for every run,” the jockey added. “Mark
Johnston had him spot on and he should come on again. His experience round Epsom
last time helped him a fair bit today as he was more experienced than many other
runners.”
Sheikh Mohammed, Godolphin’s founder and driving force, declared: “It is
very, very good to start with this win. He is a very good horse who is improving
and Mark Johnston has done well.
“I love horses — I was born on a horse — and I love coming to Royal Ascot
to see the horses here. He is my son Sheikh Hamdan’s horse and we will discuss
with him where he wants to go.”
Air Force Blue (War Front), with Ryan Moore up for Aidan O’Brien, finished a
non-threatening second and the Richard Hannon-trained Eltezam (Kodiac) was third
with Frankie Dettori.
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