Chasing Dreams Shines on Debut at Newmarket for Godolphin

Sure, it's early season. 

We have just tripped over the other side of March. 

The Brocklesby Stakes has come and gone. The two-year-olds are coming thick and fast. Archie Watson has dazzled the likes of Mark Johnson with four debut winners in twelve days. Nothing stands still. Trainers, let alone horses, smirk at the grass growing under their feet. Winners, they look so effortless, but you talk to the owners of those who fill the places in behind. A dream left slightly tattered and torn. When you hope your horse disappointed to cling onto the vain hope it has ability. Don't despair, even the best horses lose. 

Sometimes.  

The small trainers make hay while the sun shines on even a cloudy afternoon at Pontefract as Yorkshire folk talk of the history of the great and the good. 

For years I thought a Pontefract cake was some kind of exotic pastry... 

While the big guns keep their powder dry a small child chews on a small circular sweet made of liquorice. 

Victory is often sweeter than butterscotch Angel Delight...

Charlie Appebly hasn't felt the cold of a winter breeze for many a year. Winners come 'easy' when you train horses whose blood is as blue as the colour of the silks you wear. 

Newmarket 16th April. 

The first two-year-old of the season for Godolphin, racing at headquarters. Chasing Dreams knows the time of day. A race that takes just over one minute, a fraction after ten past four. This chestnut filly, a daughter of Starspangledbanner out of a winning mare (A Huge Dream). One thing that all racegoers couldn't miss was Chasing Dream's price tag. You know you can buy a lot of yearlings for 750,000 guineas. But would you swap them for Chasing Dream's after she trotted up at Newmarket, winning a five-furlong sprint in a less taxing manner than shown on the gallops at home? 

Yes, she was expected to win. Bookies didn't chalk up odds of 4/9f for fun. More in fear of a small field and limited opposition, to a point. I'm sure Appleby applied the hood so she wouldn't hear the cheering crowd because he doesn't want her to get a big head and struggle to get through the stable door. 

What's the betting Chasing Dreams lines up at Royal Ascot? 

As always, only time will tell.

The Charlie Appleby trained Chasing Dreams, who cost 750,000 guineas as a yearling, makes her debut a winning one @NewmarketRace to set up Queen Mary tilt at Royal Ascot pic.twitter.com/AQ1bUxmqNk

— Graham Clark (@GrahamClark85) April 16, 2019