What a 'Dream'

02 October 2011


Posted by Tony Rushmer WHEN David Simcock and all of the current Trillium Place team finally come to reflect on their working lives, it's odds on that Dream Ahead's name will loom large in the memory bank. David has already called him the horse of a lifetime and after his fifth Group 1 triumph of the year today in the Prix de a Foret you can understand why. This is a mighty horse, make no mistake. An absolute bruiser who is as hard as they come. If he were a boxer, he'd a be a top-class heavyweight and there wouldn't be too many rivals queuing up to take him on. Even fewer who would survive three rounds. For this is a champion of the turf. In his box, right next to the trainer's house, he looks like an awesome physical specimen. The body fills the eye, deep in girth and also broad, accommodating what must be exceptional heart and lungs. The head is imposing and massive, too - and thank goodness it is! It was used to good effect when winning the Sprint Cup by a nose at Haydock last month - now it has beaten off the brilliant 14-time Group 1 winner Goldikova. The Dream Ahead story has certainly incorporated some heady days. Don't forget, either, that there was the odd doubter around at the start of the year. One run too many last back-end resulted in a below-par showing in the Dewhurt Stakes. Not that David's belief ever wavered. The opposite in fact. He had total confidence in his horse. Indeed, in the spring he expressed on more than one occasion how the thought of campaigning this horse excited him. Six or so months on and it is easy to see why. What crusing speed, what turn of foot and what courage. A horse like him can only come along once in a blue moon. That's why all those who have followed him - and there are plenty - were screaming at their television a little after 2.30pm this afternoon. And how we all looked imploringly to the heavens in that interim minute or so before the result of the photo-finish was announced. This was, without doubt, a day when the prayers of the Dream Ahead fan club were well and truly answered.