Dream finish in Beverly D

The stretch at Arlington Park is by no means the longest in the country; just one look at the never-ending run for home at Belmont Park is all the proof you need of that.

But for David Simcock, trainer of I’m a Dreamer, it sure seemed like the longest run to the finish line in history during Saturday’s running of the Grade I $750,000 Beverly D.

“Even though it’s a short straight here,” Simcock said with a sigh of relief, “it felt like a very, very long straight down there.”

That’ll happen when your horse is battling neck-to-neck, trying to hold off a fast-closing filly in the final strides with so much on the line.

In the end, I’m a Dreamer (6-1), who made a strong closing move herself to grab the lead midway through the stretch, had just enough left in the tank to hold off Marketing Mix by barely a head.

“I can’t believe it,” said winning jockey Hayley Turner, who became the first female rider to win the Beverly D. in the event’s 23-year history.

For Marketing Mix and jockey Julien Leparoux, it was a case of too little, just a little too late.

“She was running,” Leparoux said. “The winner got the jump on us, but my filly ran well.”

Hometown favorite Romacaca, trained by Danny Miller, owned by Frank C. Calabrese and ridden by Francisco Torres, gave the big crowd at Arlington a thrill when she went to the front at the start and stayed there until the field of 10 turned for home, but after a brief resurgence midway down the stretch, the 6-year-old faded late to end up seventh.

Joviality finished a strong third, especially considering that jockey William Buick lost his whip after bumping with Colm O’Donoghue aboard Up heading into the stretch.

“She ran perfect,” Buick said. “I lost the whip but she ran great. This is probably her career best. I was very happy with her.”

But in the end, no one was happier than Turner, Simcock and the connections of I’m a Dreamer.

“I thought she had a good chance; She had a good attitude before the race,” Turner said. “I think she seems to sparkle when she’s over here in the states.”

On Saturday, that description hardly seems a stretch.