Cesarewitch hope A Dream To Share ineligible for Newmarket contest

A Dream To Share, the general second favourite Club Godolphin Cesarewitch, is not eligible to run in the race, the British Horseracing Authority has confirmed.

The seven-year-old, who is owned by JP McManus, won the Champion Bumper at the Cheltenham Festival and the Punchestown equivalent in 2023 but had his attentions switched to the Flat in the spring after two disappointing runs over hurdles in the winter.

A Dream To Share subsequently won one of three Flat outings for trainers John and Thomas Kiely but he has yet to be given a handicap mark, which makes him ineligible for the Cesarewitch on October 11 as the ratings for qualification were published on August 19.

A BHA spokesperson said: “An appeal was made by connections of A Dream To Share to the BHA’s handicapping ombudsman, David Cleary, which asked him to consider whether the BHA’s handicapper has been correct in refusing to give a British Flat mark to the horse, based on the information available to them.

“In a decision that will be published in full in due course, Mr Cleary found that the approach taken in this case, following the decision of the IHRB handicapper to decline to give the horse a mark, was consistent with the treatment afforded to any other Irish-trained and raced Flat horses. He therefore denied the appeal.

“Regarding the Cesarewitch, the conditions for the race confirm that the rating used for qualification is that published on August 19, prior to publication of the weights today.

“A Dream To Share, therefore, was not qualified and – in the interests of fairness to other competitors and those who have bet on the race – there is nothing within the race conditions that allows for a horse to be added at a later date.”