Dominic Ffrench Davis keen for rain to aid Persian Dreamer’s Classic aspirations

Dominic Ffrench Davis is keen to see the rain keep falling ahead of a Classic tilt with Persian Dreamer later this spring.

She holds entries for both the Qipco 1000 Guineas and the Irish equivalent at the Curragh, with the daughter of Calyx winning both a Rowley Mile maiden and the July course’s Duchess of Cambridge Stakes impressively in Newmarket during her two-year-old season.

She signed off her juvenile campaign with a respectable effort in the Cheveley Park Stakes and with her best form coming at HQ with cut in the ground, her handler is hoping conditions allow her to take part in the opening fillies Classic of the season back on the Rowley Mile.

“Persian Dreamer is not back in the yard yet, she’s over with Robson Aguiar in Ireland but he tells me she’s doing well so we’re looking forward to her coming back,” said the Lambourn-based handler.

“I hope this rain continues because to win a Group One with her would be the aim, but she needs to get her toe in.

“She’ll run in one of the Guineas, whether she runs before that we’ll see what happens with the weather. If the word ‘soft’ was in the description we’d love to be at Newmarket because she’s two from three there.”

A key member of Kia Joorabchian’s Amo Racing operation, Ffrench Davis also oversaw the two-year-old campaign of Ornellaia in 2023, with the daughter of Night Of Thunder third in the Group One Moyglare Stud Stakes when last sighted.

She has since switched to Roger Varian and also has a crack at the 1000 Guineas on her agenda, with Ffrench Davis feeling she could possess real star quality.

He continued: “We’ve still got Persian Dreamer but Ornellaia has gone to Roger Varian. She’s a lovely filly and I hope she goes on and wins a Group One this year because Kia deserves it, it’s a hell of an operation he’s put together.

“It rained heavy before Persian Dreamer won the Duchess of Cambridge and if it did the same before the Guineas, who knows. The race has opened up with Aidan’s (O’Brien, Opera Singer) not running, but Ornellaia will be a hard one to beat.”