Let's Dream

The most recent came last May at Chester, where Let's Dream romped home at 33-1 odds in a Class 2 race. It was a perfect storm of factors: the track's groundstaff had watered heavily, creating the kind of soft, yielding surface that suits him, and Bell's team had prepared him impeccably. Jockey Warren Fentiman was given a simple instruction — get in the first two or three and control the race — and he executed it with precision, nursing Let's Dream to victory and securing back-to-back wins at Chester for the horse. Even as he ages, Bell noted, Let's Dream is becoming more adaptable; he's not the one-dimensional horse he once was, though his love of dig in the ground remains.

Chester itself has become a kind of home for him. He has won twice from eight races there, which might not sound remarkable until you consider he wins only once every seven races in his typical Class 4 company. Put him on normal going at a track he knows, and he becomes a different proposition entirely — he has won three of eight races on standard ground, a 38 percent win rate that stands well above his career average. Tellingly, he has not won in his last six races, and he raced just a week ago at Ripon, finishing seventh after running as a strong second for much of the journey. That sort of late fade suggests he may have hit a ceiling, or simply needs the right ingredients again: ground that suits him, a track where he can settle, and careful tactical handling.