Cinderella’s Dream among those to have a ball at July Festival

Godolphin horses excelled in the sunshine of Newmarket’s July Festival, with eight wins across the three-day meeting including significant victories for Cinderella’s Dream, El Cordobes, Saba Desert and Opera Ballo.

Cinderella’s Dream captured a second G1 success, and first in Europe, as she gamely saw off January in Friday’s Falmouth Stakes. Victory in the mile highlight for fillies and mares means Godolphin has now won every Group and Listed race currently run at the July Course.

Having finished an unlucky second in the G1 Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare Turf last year, all roads lead back to Del Mar for the Shamardal filly, although she may bid for more top-level success in Europe beforehand.

International travel could also be on the cards for El Cordobes following his comfortable success in Thursday’s G2 Princess Of Wales’s Stakes. The improving four-year-old was notching a first Pattern-race win and providing William Buick with a landmark 2,000th victory in Britain.

Thursday’s card also saw Opera Ballo post back-to-back Listed wins with an impressive display in the Sir Henry Cecil Stakes. The Ghaiyyath colt, who has won four of his five starts, looks booked for a return to Group company, with the G3 Prix Daphnis at Deauville a likely next step.

Saba Desert continued a well-trodden path for Godolphin colts as he stayed on strongly to prevail in Saturday’s G2 Superlative Stakes, becoming an eighth royal blue winner of the two-year-old contest.  

Previous winners include Saba Desert’s sire Dubawi, Quorto, Master Of The Seas and Champion Two-Year-Old Native Trail, who all graduated to G1 honours. Saba Desert will be hoping to emulate the same feat, with the Vincent O’Brien National Stakes and Darley Dewhurst Stakes on his radar.

The July Festival also saw handicap wins for the progressive King’s Charter on Friday and Fifth Column, who narrowly denied Bedouin Prince 24 hours later. Two-year-olds Distant Storm and Crimson Rose both captured maidens in what proved an excellent meeting.

Komorebi also shed his maiden tag on Friday, with the juvenile son of Pinatubo scoring by three lengths at Clairefontaine. A good week for Pinatubo in France also saw him sire a first Group winner as Qilin Queen took Sunday’s G2 Prix de Malleret.

Godolphin was presented with the 2024 Queen’s Silver Cup for leading British-based Flat breeder at the Thoroughbred Breeders’ Association Flat Breeders’ Awards at Chippenham Park on Wednesday evening.

Dubawi was honoured at the ceremony with the BBA Shipping Silver Cigar Box, awarded to the leading British-based stallion by earnings, for a record-extending tenth time. The world's most successful active stallion also received the British EBF Barleythorpe Silver Cup, given to the British-based sire with the highest strike rate.