Star of Kodiak wins at Keeneland Race Course on 10/19/19 in race #10

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10/19/19 | Lexington, KY – Dare To Dream Stable’s Star of Kodiak may not have shocked his connections, but he sure shocked the betting public at Keeneland today in race #10! The 3-year-old son of Ready’s Image used a powerful, sweeping move to circle a tough field of allowance horses and out finish the favored Chad Brown trainee Sayyaff to win the 5 1/2 furlong turf event at odds of 23-1. Star of Kodiak was coming off an ultra-impressive maiden victory in his first start on the grass at Arlington Park last time out. Dare To Dream Stable’s trainer Chris Davis was pretty confident that “Star” would take another move forward based on how he was training and boy was Chris right.

In a full field of 12 in the $73,000 allowance event, Star of Kodiak drew the outside 11 post under the guidance of regular stable rider Mitchell Murrill. The handsome dark bay son of Ready’s Image broke beautifully. He immediately was put in a terrific position by Murrill outside the leading pack in the clear. After the opening quarter, which was run in 22.0 flat, Star of Kodiak was in 6th but just a few lengths off the leaders. With seemingly a ton of momentum, Murrill swung “Star” into the six path in the turn. When they completed the turn, Murrill got after Star, who started picking off horses one by one and set his sights on the favored Sayyaff who had built up a two-length lead. Star of Kodiak continued to rally down the lane and drove past Sayyaff in the final stages to be 3/4 clear at the wire in a snappy final time of 1:03.10. It was another 2 1/2 lengths to the 3rd place finisher. This was Star of Kodiak’s 2nd victory to go along with a second-place finish in five starts with earnings of $60,780.

A big hearty congrats to all the happy partners, many of whom took advantage of the generous odds to leave them all a little wealthier than when they woke up that morning. Kudos to young gun trainer Chris Davis, his assistant Mynor Ortiz, and the entire staff on an incredible training job. Star of Kodiak has really progressed over the past few months and now has a very bright future, including some forays into stakes company. Finally, to our guy Mitchell Murrill who once again gave us a terrific ride and was very confident in “Star” after working him the past two times in the morning. Mitchell rode a picture-perfect race and showed again he can ride with the best of them.

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Rainbow Warrior wins at Penn National Race Course on 10/12/19 in race #8

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10/12/19 | Grantville, PA – Dare To Dream Stable’s improving 3 yr old filly Rainbow Warrior is starting to figure it out and has become a very competitive racehorse. After a recent tough loss by a half-length, and then an easy maiden score, Rainbow Warrior was seeking her second consecutive victory at Penn National Race Course. Facing winners for the first time, Rainbow Warrior would go to post as the clear 8/5 favorite in a 9 horse field of routers. Once again, jockey Julio Hernandez would be aboard the gorgeous chestnut daughter of Verrazano. “The Warrior broke well, and Hernandez had Rainbow Warrior stalking the early leader while being 2 wide. “The Warrior” remained in a great spot on the backside right on the throat latches of leader On Magic Wings. At the 3/4’s marker, Hernandez decide it was time to go and went right by the leader. Midway through the turn, she started to take command, and once they reached the stretch, it was game over! Rainbow Warrior drew off under brisk urging to cross the wire in dominant fashion by a widening 7 lengths to score back to back victories. “The Warrior” now has 2 wins and 2 third-place finishes in her 8 race career.

Congratulations to all Dare To Dream Stable partners who have patiently waited for Rainbow Warrior to figure it out, and their patience is now being rewarded. Another fantastic training job by Mike Stidham, Hilary Pridham, Ben Trask, and the entire team for getting the most out of Rainbow Warrior. Finally, to jockey Julio Hernandez who has developed an excellent relationship with “The Warrior” riding her to back to back victories and making them look easy!

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Hold My Call wins at Belmont Park on 10/05/19 in race #2!

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10/05/19 | Elmont, NY – Dare To Dream Stable’s 2 yr old NY bred colt Hold My Call left a field of 8 maiden sprinters in his dust in scoring the first win of his young career at Belmont Park. Hold My Call was coming off back to back 4th place finishes while flashing his early speed before tiring in the final furlong. This time with blinkers added for this sprint Hold My Call would have none of that. The stunning chestnut colt by Hold Me Back broke sharply, and jockey Luis Saez put Hold My Call right into the race from the get-go. Saez had Hold My Call sitting 2nd just off the pace while being confidently ridden. At the five-sixteenths marker, he took charge leaving that station and responded well when Saez asked the chestnut for his best. In the stretch, the race was over, and it was just a matter of how many lengths Hold My Call would win by. Deep down the lane, Saez was in cruise control, and hand rode Hold My Call to the wire winning by a comfortable 4 lengths over second-place finisher Blues City. With this victory, Hold My Call has earnings of $33,700 in his brief career.

Congratulations to the Dare To Dream Stable Partners on this excellent maiden victory. Kudos to trainer Robert Falcone Jr. and his entire team for a fabulous job getting Hold My Call ready for a peak performance. He made a nice equipment change adding blinkers for this race, and that was a key factor in getting the best effort out of the colt. Finally, to outstanding jockey Luis Saez who once again showed why he is regarded as one of the top jockeys in the country. When Saez gets a horse to the front, it usually game over, and that’s what happened on this day!

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Busy Paynter wins at Los Alamitos Race Course on 09/21/19 in race #3

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09/21/19 | Los Alamitos, CA – Dare To Dream Stable’s 3 yr old filly Busy Paynter put it all together and easily dispatched her five rivals in breaking her maiden by a resounding 7 lengths at Los Alamitos Race Course. “Busy” was coming off a disappointing performance last time out in which she ran into a runaway winner, but didn’t finish the way she was expected to. With that in mind, Busy Paynter was wheeled back in 8 days for this six furlong sprint. With jockey Tiago Pereira back aboard, the good looking bay daughter of Paynter was expected to track the pacesetter Colonel Power, and hopefully, take over in the stretch. When the gates popped open, “Busy” as expected stalked the speed while going a snappy 21.77 for the opening quarter. As they approached the half mile marker, Pereira asked Busy Paynter a bit earlier than expected as he noticed Colonel Power starting to back up. As they completed the half mile in 45.32, Busy Paynter was now on the lead. She then started to kick it in around the bend and steadily begun to draw away in the stretch. Once they were in deep stretch, Pereira just hand urged Busy Paynter to the wire in a snappy time of 1:09.84 with a winning margin of 7 lengths. This was Busy Paynter’s first victory to go along with one third-place finish in 5 career starts and earnings of $15,211.

Congratulations to the partners on this resounding victory! It was a really nice training job by Brian Koriner who has always had confidence in “Busy” and finally got it all out of her. Brian looks forward to continued improvement from this up and coming filly. Kudos to jockey Tiago Pereira on a fantastic ride. He pushed all the right buttons and really took it to the field!

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Rainbow Warrior wins at Penn National Race Course on 09/19/19 in race #7

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09/19/19 | Grantville, PA – Dare To Dream Stable’s 3-year-old filly Rainbow Warrior broke through the maiden ranks with a gutty victory at Penn National Race Course. Rainbow Warrior was coming off her previous best effort and one that should have been a winning one last time out at Monmouth Park. Unfortunately, she just got beat at the wire after setting the pace and battling from start to finish to lose by 1/2 length. This time around, “The Warrior” would settle for nothing less other than a victory! The stunning chestnut daughter of Verrazano would go off odds on in the 6 horse field going 1 1/16 miles on the dirt. With jockey Julio Hernandez aboard, Rainbow Warrior broke alertly and was put in a stalking position around the first turn. Hernandez remained in that position on the backside never more than two lengths off the leading pair after moderate splits of 24.60 and 49.40 through a half-mile. Hernandez and “The Warrior” began to creep up through three quarters timed in 1:14.67 as she was now only a measured length off the leader Big Shot. On the final turn, Hernandez moved three-wide into the last bend and engaged with Big Shot. As they turned for home, Rainbow Warrior was carried out in the stretch as Big Shot bore out badly forcing Rainbow Warrior far out through the sixteenth. There was then quite a bit of bumping through deep stretch to the wire with Rainbow Warrior gallantly fighting and out finishing Big Shot to the finish by a neck. It was quite an effort from “The Warrior” considering she was interfered with several times. She almost certainly would have been moved up via DQ but showed immense determination to get the job done and not leave it up to the stewards. Along with this first score, Rainbow Warrior has 2 third-place finishes in her seven-race career.

Congratulations to the partners on this sweet victory. Also, congrats to trainer Mike Stidham, Hilary Pridham, Ben Trask, and the entire team. Rainbow Warrior has really improved from her 2-year-old season and has shown she wants to be a racehorse and win races. Thanks to jockey Julio Hernandez who was riding for Dare To Dream Stable for the first time, and made it a terrific debut. He rode with high confidence and knew he was on the best horse and made sure it didn’t come down to a stewards decision.

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Embolden wins the $100,000 Jamestown Stakes at Colonial Downs on 09/07/19 in race 6!

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09/07/19 | New Kent, VA – Dare To Dream Stable’s ultra-talented 2 yr old colt Embolden once again dazzled and easily put away a field of 9 Virginia Breds in the 100k Jamestown Stakes going 5 1/2 furlongs on the turf at Colonial Downs. On paper, this appeared to be a two-horse race with Embolden and the ballyhooed filly Bella Aurora. The latter had scored a super impressive victory against open company in a turf sprint at Laurel Park last run. Embolden was coming off the easiest of victories in his turf bow last month, winning by over ten lengths. So as expected, this gray son of The Factor would go off as the heavy favorite in his stakes debut. As it turned out, they would run 1-2, but on this day it was all about Embolden who was once again the easiest of winners.

Once again when the gates opened, Embolden was quickest and immediately went to the lead with jockey Trevor McCarthy aboard for the first time. He cruised through an unhurried opening quarter in 22.72 while maintaining a short edge with McCarthy just sitting on the classy gray colt. Like his previous race, The Gray Camanoe tried to take it to Embolden early and once again he shook off that rival with ease as he began to open up on the field. As they straightened for home, there was only one order of business to clean up, and that was to fend off the challenge of Bella Aurora who’s connections must have been hoping that the early pace pressure would take its toll on Embolden and they could surge past in the stretch. Unfortunately for them Embolden had plenty left in the tank, and when the 5-2 second choice tried to move up and engage with “Big E,” McCarthy just shook the reins a bit and easily spurted away without ever being challenged. In deep stretch, McCarthy just sat on the classy champ as he continued to widen his lead and coasted under the wire by 3 3/4 lengths in a final time of 1:02.80. It was another 7 1/4 lengths to the 3rd place finisher showing how much the best the top two were, and more astoundingly how much the best Embolden was. With this victory earning him $60,000 Embolden has now made $99,000 in his brief 3 race career. To go along with his 2nd place dirt debut, Embolden is now a perfect 2 for 2 on turf and has a very bright future. It looks like it’s time to test the waters in open stakes company and see if he can take us to the Breeders Cup!

Congratulations to all the happy and excited Dare To Dream Stable partners. With good reason, there is excitement to see where this journey goes next. Kudos to trainer Michael Stidham, Hilary Pridham, Ben Trask, and the entire team. They have been high on Embolden from day one, and he continues to dazzle and improve with each start. Finally to jockey Trevor McCarthy who rode the colt for the first time, but you would never know as he was in complete command from the onset and was all smiles after the race. He compared riding Embolden to driving a Ferrari and said there is still much more in the tank as he never even got close to putting him in full gear.

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Star of Kodiak wins MSW on the Turf at Arlington Park in race #5 on 09/07/19!

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09/07/19 | Arlington Heights, IL – Dare To Dream Stable’s improving 3 yr old colt Star Of Kodiak displayed how much he’s improved by easily taking down a tough group of 9 MSW turf sprinters at Arlington Park in race #5 on 09/07/19. Star Of Kodiak was coming off a real nice effort sprinting on the Arlington Polytrack where he finished 2nd after giving up the lead late to a well-meant first-time starter. With that excellent effort behind him, the dark bay son of Ready’s Image was ready for a breakthrough performance. With Jockey Carlos Ulloa aboard again, Star broke just a tad slower than preferred and settled in midpack through the opening stages of the 5 1/2 furlong turf sprint. After the first 1/4 mile which was timed in 22.59, Star of Kodiak was in-between horses about 2 1/2 lengths off the pace. Jockey Ulloa would have to maneuver around some traffic and get Star to the outside before the bend. At that point, Star Of Kodiak launched a stout rally as they approached the quarter pole and came three-wide into the lane. He descended outside of stablemate impeachableoffense in mid-stretch and took the lead at the sixteenth marker gradually pulling away from that rival and crossing the line a widening 1 1/2 lengths in a final time of 1:04.48 for the 5 1/2 furlongs. It was visually an impressive performance by Star Of Kodiak. He didn’t get an ideal trip, yet he and jockey Ulloa made it look somewhat routine in the end. With this maiden score, Star Of Kodiak earned 18k and now has 24k in the bank in his last two starts sprinting after two unsuccessful routes to begin his racing career.

Congratulations to all the Dare To Dream Stable partners for this sweet victory. We’ll look forward to continue sprinting Star Of Kodiak with an expected start at Keeneland on the horizon. It was a terrific training job by Chris Davis, his assistant Mynor Ortiz and the entire staff. Chris has been really patient with Star, and he’s finally learning the mental side to go along with his physical talent. Finally congratulations to jockey Carlos Ulloa who has given Star Of Kodiak two exceptional rides and has a lot of confidence in himself and all the horses he rides. Carlos has a bright future as he secures more live mounts moving forward!

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The Gray Blur wins MSW on Arlington Million Day at Arlington Park!

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08/10/19 | Arlington Heights, IL – Dare To Dream Stable’s promising 2 year-old gray colt, The Gray Blur, made his turf debut on The Arlington Million under-card. The Gray Blur was coming off a troubled trip in his debut on the Arlington Park polytrack last month. He showed flashes of talent in that race and was training forwardly leading up to this one mile Maiden Special Weight turf event. The Gray Blur would have the services of world class jockey Florent Geroux aboard this time and donning blinkers for the first time as well. The “Blur” broke from the 7 hole in the field of 9 talented maidens and although he veered out slightly leaving the gate, the master Geroux quickly redirected him to lead the field into the first turn. They continued to lead on the backside as Geroux tried to slow the pace down as much as possible. After an opening quarter mile time of 24.93, Geroux really slowed down that 2nd quarter and the half mile was timed at 51.36 with the talented son of Fast Anna relaxed on a 1 1/2 length lead on favored Flap Jack. The pressure was turned up on the 2nd turn as Flap Jack and jockey Adam Beschizza tried to get a bit closer to The Gray Blur. “Flo” asked The Gray Blur for a bit more and he responded keeping Flap Jack at bay. Flap Jack looked like he almost got on even terms with ”The Blur” as they turned for home, but Blur dug his heels in and repelled that challenge to open up and maintain a 1 length advantage through the stretch. In deep stretch Flo asked The Gray Blur for all he had and showed great determination to hold off Flap Jack and the rest of this talented field of maidens with the final margin of 1/2 length on the wire in a final time of 1.39.88. It was another 1 1/2 lengths to 3rd place finisher and 4 1/2 to fourth. The Gray Blur earned $18,000.00 in taking home the first place money in this $30,000 maiden special weight event.

Congratulations to the throng of Dare To Dream Stable partners who celebrated in the raucous winner’s circle in front of the huge Million Day crowd. It was quite a spectacle! Huge kudos to rising star trainer Chris Davis who did a fantastic job getting The Gray Blur ready.  Chris was confident that this colt would be better on the turf and going two turns, and also added the blinkers for this start. Chris and his assistant Mynor Ortiz are a fantastic team and having a real good Arlington meet. Of course, tons of credit to to jockey Florent Geroux, once again he showed why he’s one of the best around. “Frenchie” rode the “Blur” perfectly and also bagged two other turf wins earlier in the card.

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Embolden Wins by 10 Lengths on Opening Night at Colonial Downs!

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08/08/19 | New Kent, VA – Dare To Dream Stable’s 2 year-old colt Embolden stamped himself as a horse to be reckoned with by dominating a field of Maiden Special Weight turf sprinters and winning by a widening 10 lengths, while under wraps in the stretch. Embolden was making the second start of his career after a real nice debut where he ran 2nd at Monmouth Park to a well-meant $300,000 auction horse. This time with a race under his belt, the athletic and regal looking son of The Factor was expected to take care of business. With jockey Paco Lopez aboard again, Embolden broke sharply and immediately went to the front end against his 7 rivals and opened up a short lead. Embolden was cruising through the opening fraction of 22.53 for the opening quarter mile while on a relaxed lead. Approaching the 3/8th’s pole, Embolden was engaged by Great Camanoe and jockey Richard Boucher. That tandem appeared a danger to Embolden, but appearances can be deceiving! Paco Lopez looked over at that rival and just shook the reins and the odds on favorite responded by spurting away to leave Great Camanoe far back in his rear view mirror! From that point on, Embolden was in cruise control and Paco just had him under wraps in the stretch with the margin just widening with each stride. Embolden crossed the wire 10 lengths to the good in a final time of 57.81 for the 5 furlong turf dash. He took home $30,000 for the win and now has $40,000 in earnings after his two starts. It was an ultra impressive performance by Embolden and we now look forward to his stakes debut on September 7th at Colonial Downs in the $100,000 Jamestown Stakes.

Congratulations to the Dare To Dream Stable Partners who are all extremely excited about their colt’s future. What a terrific training job by trainer Michael Stidham and his outstanding staff, (Hilary Pridham, Ben Trask, and the entire team) for having this colt ready for this kind of performance. The barn has always been high on Embolden and expected this type of performance. Additional gratuity to jockey Paco Lopez, who knows how to get his horses to the finish line first. He knew he was on the best horse and rode with confidence.

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Memory Bank wins the Black Tie Affair Handicap at Arlington Park!

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07/20/19 | Arlington Heights, IL – Dare To Dream Stable’s Memory Bank became a stake winner by dominating the $75K Black Tie Affair Handicap at Arlington Park in race #8 today. What started out as an extremely hot sunny day in Chicago, suddenly turned into a cool rain soaked late afternoon, causing the Black Tie Affair to be taken off the turf and moved onto Arlington’s Polytrack. With that surface switch, there were a few scratches which moved Memory Bank to the inside post and leaving the race void of much speed. Jockey Mitchell Murrill was given instructions in the paddock to either try to go to the front or sit right off the only true speed horse in Christian C. Murrill was very aggressive in trying to get Memory Bank to the front as the gates opened, but jockey Jose Valdivia aboard Christian C aggressively angled in and cut off Murrill while almost slamming Memory Bank into the rail before the first turn. At that point, Murrill smartly guided Memory Bank to the outside and quickly got on the flank of the leader. Those positions did not change on the backside with Memory Bank always right on the throat latches of Christian C. Approaching the seven sixteenths, Murrill asked Memory Bank for a bit more and collared Christian C who was now under a drive and having trouble keeping up. Memory Bank spurted away and opened up a clear advantage into the top of the stretch. From there on Mitchell just had to keep Memory Bank focused on finishing the job. He did just that, crossing the wire an easy 3 length winner with long shot Hannity finishing second ahead of the tiring Christian C.

With this stake win Memory Bank surpassed $200,000 in career earnings. The consistent 5 yr old chestnut son of Misremembered, who gives his all each and every race, now has 5 wins from his 22 starts. Along with those wins are 7 seconds and 6 thirds, making him an outstanding 18 of 22 in the money with total earnings of $202,876.

Congratulations to all the Dare To Dream Stable partners, many of whom were in attendance for this great victory. It was another fantastic training job by Mike Stidham, Hilary Pridham, Rigo Rosas and the entire Stidham team. Finally kudos to jockey Mitchell Murrill who rode a picture perfect race in guiding Memory Bank to victory. A special congratulations to Mitchell as this was his first stakes victory at Arlington Park! We were fortunate to also be a part of the first stakes victory of his career when he guided Jockamo’s Song to victory at the Fairgrounds back in 2015.

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