'Trips like the Cesarewitch definitely suit him' - Knight left Dreaming

Friday: Southwell

Commentator Derek Thompson said he was "dreaming again" after Author's Dream emerged from the thick fog and pulled two and a quarter lengths clear of Kitten's Dream in the 2m2½f handicap.

Trainer William Knight is also dreaming big and said the winner could be aimed at big staying handicaps such as the Cesarewitch, in which he finished down the field behind Great White Shark in October 2020.

The eight-year-old was fifth of six runners over two miles at Lingfield last time but the step back up in trip seemed to bring out the best in him as he stayed on best to win under Marco Ghiani.

"He really appreciated the extra two furlongs and a bit more of a galloping track compared to Lingfield, where it probably just turned into a bit of a sprint the other day," said Knight.

"The extra distance and the track has definitely brought out some more improvement.

"He's eight and that was close to a career best. He's an out-and-out stayer who loves extreme distances. There aren't that many races throughout the year but ones like the Cesarewitch definitely suit him."

Ghiani, who was crowned champion apprentice in October, recorded his double when the Phil McEntee-trained Tell'em Nowt, a relative outsider at 12-1, landed the second division of the 7f handicap.

It was a breakthrough success for the three-year-old, who was formerly trained by Clive Cox and won at the 17th attempt.

Results, replays and analysis

Catch our new in-depth review of the weekend's racing every Monday in the Racing Post. With big-race analysis from Grand National-winning jockey Leighton Aspell, Chris Cook's take on the weekend action, eyecatchers from the Raceform team, weekly awards and much more, it is not to be missed.