Don’t ignore veteran Rainbow Dreamer on Good Friday

April 5

Alan’s small team of winter Flat horses have surpassed themselves in the first three months of 2023.

And Lunar Shadow‘s success at Lingfield last week was Barbury’s eighth on the all-weather, one more than we had in the same period of 2018 when Alan finished the year with a best-ever tally on the level of 38 winners.

Here’s hoping that Tuddenham Green might take the Flat squad to nine in the two-mile handicap at Nottingham today.

However, win or lose at Colwick Park, those figures on the all-weather give Alan plenty of cause for optimism for the summer season ahead.

Highlight, of course, will be Trueshan, who was due to return to the grass gallops this week in readiness for his seasonal reappearance in the Further Flight Stakes at Nottingham next Wednesday.

There is little doubt that Rainbow Dreamer, who has a third crack at the valuable All-Weather Marathon on Finals Day at Newcastle on Good Friday, is only marginally less popular than Trueshan around the yard.

Doubtless, the younger members of the staff would label the evergreen 10-year-old “an absolute dude” as they reflect on his 12 victories, which have earned the Maple Street Partnership more than £200,000 in prize money.

Eight of those successes have come on an artificial surface, and, while Rainbow Dreamer, is obviously not the force he was, Alan is looking forward to him taking on a field of young whippersnappers at Gosforth Park.

Alan said:”Rainbow Dreamer had won four off the spin win and was ante-post favourite for the race in 2020, only for Covid to intervene, which meant we were in lockdown with no racing.

“Rainbow Dreamer has been fourth and fifth in the race the last two years, and you can put a line through his disappointing last run at Kempton in February as he came back sore, having strained a muscle in his quarters.

“What’s more, despite his increasing years, the old horse is third-best on official ratings and only 4lb off the top two, so I hope that he’ll be competitive in a race which does not look as strong as in recent seasons,”

There is also plenty of prize money on offer at Bath, where we run Fast Forward and Sword Beach, both being ridden by young Callum Hutchinson, who is the son of our former stable jockey Wayne Hutchinson.

Fast Forward’s trip to the sales has been put on hold in the hope that he would make the cut and enjoy the drying ground, and, fortunately, he survived the ballot. He has run well in his last couple of races at Wolverhampton, but, significantly, both his wins have come on turf.

Sword Beach last won over hurdles at Plumpton this time last year, but he has been running well on the level and takes a drop in class here.

The pair will be ridden by young Callum Hutchinson, who is the son of our former stable jockey Wayne Hutchinson.