Racing: Lady can bring Johnston's Dreams to earth

Land Of Dreams was a brilliant winner at Doncaster last month but she may have to give way to another outstanding filly, Lady Alexander, in this afternoon's Cornwallis Stakes at Ascot, writes Richard Edmondson.

Mark Johnston was 38 yesterday but he had little to cheer. The Middleham trainer caught the morning flight from Dublin to Newcastle following a rather unsatisfactory session at the Goffs Yearling Sales. "I went to buy 15 like I had done the previous year but I only got six," he said. "The breeders, pinhookers and sales people were happier than I was because the horses were so expensive."

If Johnston is to revive his spirits it may be that he has to get back on a plane to a foreign auction hall, however. It was while the trainer was at the Keeneland September Yearling Sales in Kentucky that an animal from Kingsley House put up one of the most eye-catching displays of the season at Doncaster's St Leger meeting.

The Flying Childers Stakes witnessed the sort of acceleration from Land Of Dreams that you would more readily associate from a mechanical vehicle in the Nevada desert. "Her win that day wasn't a surprise for us though the manner of her victory certainly was," Johnston said. "She was wonderful and it would be nice if we saw a repeat in the Cornwallis."

What may be most wonderful at Ascot this afternoon though is the mood of the bookmakers. The idea that it only rains on the Crown Estate when the monarch is away in more agreeable climes has gained much credence this week. In a cultural exchange, we have given Pakistan The Queen and they have responded with the donation of a monsoon.

The effect of the soft going in Berkshire on two-year-olds is indeterminate this afternoon, but it is punters who will be left with the brief of guessing. "The ground will be a trial for most of the horses because the vast majority will not have raced on it before," Johnston said. "We've got no reason to believe ours won't like soft ground because she's very strong, like most sprinters I suppose."

Land Of Dreams, in spite of her afterburner, is by no means certain to confirm Town Moor placings with Tippitt Boy on these revised terms. Others to consider are Lord Kintyre, who was second to the unbeaten Daggers Drawn in the Richmond Stakes at Goodwood, and Lady Alexander, the only horse to have beaten King Of Kings. While the latter's Curragh form might not be copper-bottomed, the third, Princely Heir, another Johnston horse, did go on to win a Group One contest. Lady Alexander (next best 2.30) may just beat Land Of Dreams in a fillies' forecast.

Kingsley House is also represented in an opener which is short on runners but not on intrigue. Their Equity Princess and another contestant, Rabah, cannot be ignored with any great confidence, though it may be that the finish will be between the other two runners. Dr Fong was relatively unfancied on his Newbury debut despite his forwarding address being at Warren Place and this $425,000 colt will not attract such generous odds today. The winner though could be Evening World (2.00), who has at least won in the soft and was third in Newbury's annual parade of future champions, the Haynes, Hanson and Clark Stakes. The runner-up, Quiet Assurance, has since won at Newmarket.

The day's second Group Three race, the Princess Royal Stakes, is populated largely by underachievers. In this crowd of giggling girls the safest option looks to be Graceful Lass (3.00), judged on her narrow defeat by Puce over course and distance two weeks ago.

The final televised race from Ascot, however, will be fought out by a bunch of old sweats short on top-class ability but with their attitude unquestioned. In such company there is no stouter named runner than the course-and-distance winner TEDBURROW (nap 3.35).

At Longchamp tomorrow, one of Michael Tabor's glittering equine fleet, Second Empire, gets a run out in the Grand Criterium. It is the belief of some, including the bookmakers, who have Second Empire toward the summit of both 2,000 Guineas and Derby betting, that the colt is best juvenile at Aidan O'Brien's Ballydoyle stable. This is not the hierarchy constructed by those at the yard itself, though, who send Second Empire carrying a pot of tea and toast to King Of Kings' lodgings every morning.