Cinderella's Dream

There was no glass slipper, but the royal blue silks of Godolphin floated home the fairest of winners all the same as Cinderella's Dream (GB) (Shamardal) claimed the second leg of the Turf Triple in the GII Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Oaks Invitational Stakes. With only one blemish on her record, Cinderella's Dream has carried said silks (dyed in a color also known--rather appropriately--as 'queen blue' or 'imperial blue') to six victories. She was a neck winner on unveiling last May at Lingfield and then steadily worked her way through the ranks...

The once-beaten Cinderella's Dream (GB) (Shamardal) will look to give Godolphin a third winner in the five-year history of the GII Fasig-Tipton Saratoga Oaks Invitational Stakes as she bids to add to her latest success in the GI Belmont Oaks Invitational over the same mile-and-three-sixteenths journey July 6. The homebred ran the table in the first four starts of her career, a pair of victories at two followed by two more this season at Meydan, including a jaw-dropping score in the Listed Jumeirah 1000 Guineas Mar. 2 that defies any...

Back on the hamster wheel, everybody. You know the drill. Usual freshman hype, please. Just remember to change the names--and not to dwell too unhelpfully on how things played out for those being talked up four or five years ago. But the legitimate, perennial challenge of the yearling circuit also abides, and likewise much of its color and character. Just not quite all. Not enough time has elapsed, certainly, to heal one aching void. For many of his compatriots, in particular, every barn we enter we still half-expect to hear...

Cinderella's Dream (GB) (Shamardal), who lost her undefeated record when beaten just over four lengths into seventh in the G1 QIPCO 1000 Guineas at Newmarket May 5, atoned for that defeat in no uncertain terms, flashing home powerfully through the final furlong to take out Saturday's GI Fasig-Tipton Belmont Oaks Invitational Stakes at Aqueduct. With fellow once-beaten She Feels Pretty (Karakontie {Jpn}) taking the lion's share of the pari-mutuel activity at odds of 4-5, Cinderella's Dream was a relatively generous 7-2 at the off and was content to take back...