Dream Result A Nightmare For Bookies

John Gosden sent out Pipedreamer to land one of the biggest Cambridgeshire gambles of modern times after taking the crucial decision to run the colt following a morning walk of the Rowley Mile at Newmarket.

A victory which cost the bookmaking industry a massive sum was hatched when the Clarehaven trainer looked at the course at 11am and discovered his stick went three to four inches into the turf.

Pipedreamer then became the subject of a big on-course plunge as he was backed in from 8-1 to 5-1 favourite for the totesport.com-sponsored contest.

Jimmy Fortune oozed confidence on the Cheveley Park Stud-owned runner, who made his move over two furlongs out from a position on the edge of the big group which came up the centre of the track.

When given the office, the combination stormed four lengths clear and already had the big handicap in the bag when the Jamie Osborne-trained Docofthebay emerged from the pack to reduce the deficit to a length at the post.

It was a length and a half back to Teslin (the best of the nine to race on the stands side), with Yarqus a head further back in fourth.

As he welcomed his winner back to unsaddle, Gosden admitted he faced a dilemma when continuous drying weather threatened to make conditions too quick for the son of Selkirk.

He said: 'I didn't make my decision lightly, but I had taken him out at Newbury and I was worried about the going. If it had been sunny and breezy for the last two days I might have thought otherwise, but the cloud cover over the past couple of days had helped and my stick went in easily enough.

'I wanted to run for the public but equally I knew the welfare of the horse had to come first. He'd been so hyped-up, and when people are betting #100 or #200 it's in your mind.'

Describing the race, the trainer added: 'It was a good performance and he did it well. He had a nice draw and enjoyed a nice clean run up the middle. After walking the course I thought we had better run. After all, we'd been waiting two months for this.'

Gosden was unable to draw comparisons with his 1994 Cambridgeshire winner Halling and went on: 'Halling was a very progressive horse who won the Eclipse. It's a long way between this race and the Eclipse and I would think he could go for the Earl Of Sefton Stakes next May.

'He might also come back here at the next meeting as there's a Listed race over a mile and a quarter.'

Assessing the impact the gamble on Pipedreamer had made on their trading, David Williams of Ladbrokes said: 'We've been beaten by the punters and Pipedreamer was the result we were dreading. If Authorized wins the Arc it will have been a truly miserable weekend.'

Osborne said of the runner-up: 'You're never happy finishing second but he ran another great race and is still on the upgrade.

'I don't think handicaps are an option now, so he'll have to take another step up to Listed or Group races next year.'

Of Teslin, Lorraine Ellison, daughter and assistant to trainer Brian, said: 'With a better draw, I think we would have won and he's probably the unluckiest horse in the race.

'J-P (Guillambert) gave him a great ride and he'll be going to Dubai now for a couple of million dollar races.'

(C) PA Sport