Cinderella’s Dream takes top spot in Falmouth Stakes

Cinderella’s Dream emerged best of a three-way battle for Group One honours in the Tattersalls Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket.

Trained by Charlie Appleby and ridden by William Buick, Cinderella’s Dream needed to reverse Royal Ascot form with her Duke of Cambridge Stakes conqueror Crimson Advocate, while Aidan O’Brien’s three-year-old January provided a fresh test for the Godolphin runner.

Cinderella’s Dream (5-2) looked the have the measure of Crimson Advocate only for January (6-4 favourite) to deliver her challenge, with Buick’s mount battling all the way to the line to prevail by half a length, with a length and three-quarters back to Crimson Advocate in third.

“I did think when she hit the rising ground it would take a tough one to get past her,” said Appleby, who was winning the Falmouth for the first time.

“I’ll be honest, I don’t know if she was firing on all cylinders at Ascot. We always look for excuses when we’re beaten so we used the bend and the 3lb penalty, but she’s been round Del Mar and you ain’t going to get many tighter turns than that, so I don’t think we can say going round Ascot was going to be too much of a challenge for her.

“Will was just happy over a mile on a straight track as maybe a mile round a bend is sharp enough.

“She won her maiden at Lingfield and then we went up to Thirsk to win her novice. She’s knee high to a grasshopper but she’s as tough as teak and I’m delighted for her as she’s been so consistent and for her to win a Group One here in Europe is richly deserved.

“We’re very much going to work back from the Breeders’ Cup Filly And Mare Turf. It annoyed me when that got away for us last year, so we’ll go back for a crack at that, how we get there we’ll work that out.”

Buick said: “She’s all class. She’s been unlucky a couple of times, but today she’s put it all together.

“What a game filly she is, it was a ding-dong between two good fillies, it was a good race and she had give the second filly 9lb, it’s never easy.

“I’m just so pleased for her, she’s been a wonderful filly all through and I’m just delighted she’s got a domestic Group One next to her name.”