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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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Senor Blanco wins at Arlington Park!

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07/21/19 | Arlington Heights, IL – Dare To Dream Stable’s Senor Blanco capped off a terrific weekend for the stable by drawing off at the top of the stretch and easily dispatched his 6 rivals to cross the wire a comfortable 2 3/4 lengths to the good of his nearest competitor  in winning for the 7th time in his career.  Senor Blanco was coming off a pretty good 3rd place effort in his first race off the claim for Dare To Dream.   This time around Senor Blanco was much sharper and ran like we expected him to when we claimed him in early June.  Once again jockey Mitchell Murrill was aboard Senor Blanco and was told to keep him close before making his move when called upon.  Senor Blanco broke sharply and briefly went to the lead before Murrill allowed long shot Campioni to dictate the pace while he sat off that leader on the backside.  Murrill patiently stayed within one length down the backside just biding his time.  When they approached the 7/16th’s, Murrill and Senor Blanco made a 2 wide move and cruised past Campioni with 3/8th’s of a mile remaining.  He then kicked clear and held sway through the stretch under mild urging to win by 2 3/4 lengths while never really being challenged.  Senor Blanco has now amassed $163,704 in his 27 race career.  Along with his 7 wins, he also has 2 second place finishes and 8 3rd place finishes.  This hard knocking Chosen Deputy Gelding gives you an honest effort just about every time he goes to post.

Congratulations to the Dare To Dream Stable Claiming partnership on this nice claim and victory!  Special mention to Michael & Mary Lou Jassak & Martin O’Connor for their first win with Dare To Dream! It was a great training job by young gun Chris Davis and his trusty assistant Mynor Ortiz, as Senor Blanco was razor sharp for this effort.  Finally to our go to rider Mitchell Murrill who provided us with 2 excellent rides and completing the weekend double with this nice win!

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She’s Not Bluffing wins at Belmont Park!

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06/09/19 | Elmont, NY – Dare To Dream Stable’s She’s Not Bluffing finally put it all together and broke her maiden in dominant fashion winning by a geared down 5 1/4 lengths against her 6 overmatched rivals. She’s Not Bluffing was being wheeled back in just 7 days after trying the grass going long in which she had the lead but tired as the 1 1/16th distance just did not suit her. The bay daughter of Verrazano was getting back on dirt and sprinting which looked to be her preferred distance and surface. With jockey Luis Saez aboard, Bluffing broke alertly and assumed a forward position tracking the leaders but always close. Saez hitched up to the front runners as they approached the 3/8th’s pole, and then Bluffing poked her head in front as they turned for home. At that point, Saez just gave Bluffing a tap on the shoulder and it was time to say bye bye to the field. She’s Not Bluffing opened up with each and every stride and by the time they hit deep stretch it was a widening 5 length lead with Bluffing being geared down by Saez. They crossed the wire in a final time of 1:11.53 with the official winning margin of 5 1/4 lengths. Bluffing has now earned $28,855 in her brief 5 race career which also includes a 3rd place finish along with some tough luck trips in a few other races.

Congratulations to all our great Dare To Dream Stable partners on this well deserved victory. Kudos to Robert Falcone Jr. who won his first race for our stable since joining the team toward the end of last year. Robert has done a great job with both horses he’s currently training for Dare To Dream and we expect many more victory’s in the future. Finally to top jockey Luis Saez who rode Bluffing like he knew he was on the best horse. Luis showed why he is considered one of the top jockeys out east and when he’s piloting your horse it gives everybody confidence.

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Spiced Perfection wins the Grade 1 La Brea Stakes at Santa Anita!

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December 26, 2018 | Arcadia, CA – Dare to Dream Stable’s Spiced Perfection took the giant leap of faith from California-bred stakes competition to Grade 1 winner in the $300,000 La Brea Stakes for 3-year-old fillies on opening day at Santa Anita, kicking off the first of four graded stakes races on the Arcadia, Calif., track’s opening day program.

Spiced Perfection broke from the 9 hole and used a 4 wide stalking trip around the track to defeat another California-bred Hot Autumn, by 1 1/4 lengths for the huge victory. The Bob Baffert trained Emboldened was 3rd with the Wesley Ward trainee Happy Like a Fool checking in fourth in the field of eight. Previously unbeaten Dream Tree, the 3-5 favorite, showed speed for the opening half mile, then faded to last, beaten more than 25 lengths, for her first defeat in six career starts.

Spiced Perfection covered seven furlongs on a fast track in 1:23.54 and paid $12.80 to win in front of an opening day crowd of over 41,000 fans on a gorgeous sun-splashed afternoon.

Trained by Brian Koriner and ridden by Flavien Prat, Spiced Perfection is a daughter of Smiling Tiger out of Perfect Feat, by Pleasantly Perfect, bred in California by Premier Thoroughbreds LLC. The filly was a $50,000 2 year-old in training sale purchase by Dare To Dream Stable out of the Barrett’s March 2017 sale.

The La Brea was the first graded stakes attempt for Spiced Perfection, who has raced primarily against state-bred competition since making her debut as a 2-year-old in June 2017. She tallied three stakes wins against California-breds, most recently winning the Betty Grable Stakes at Del Mar Nov. 11.

Hot Autumn jumped out to the early lead in the La Brea, but was soon overtaken by Dream Tree, who went the opening quarter mile in :22.68 and the half in :45.68. Spiced Perfection broke alertly from the outside No. 9 post position and was just behind the leading pair while well off the rail down the backstretch and around the turn.

Prat rallied Spiced Perfection four wide into the stretch, with the opening six furlongs clocked in 1:10.47, and she wore down her rivals down the lane for the win going away, her sixth in 14 starts. She has amassed $622,405 in career earnings.

“Brian didn’t say much beforehand,” said Prat. “She’s been training well and I thought her last race was really nice so we were confident today. She’s really push-button. I really thought she’d run well today.”

“She really did it on her own,” said Koriner. “[Flavien Prat] even had to slow her down on the backside because she was running up there. I was just hoping she wasn’t too fresh and get tired late. It was a great move up, to have little pedigree and win a Grade I, I don’t know what that does for her but we’re happy. She’s got over half a million dollars now so that always helps.

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Concord Jet wins at Del Mar!

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11/29/18 | Del Mar, CA – Dare To Dream Stable’s Concord Jet broke his maiden by taking his 8 rivals on a catch me if you can journey in a 5 1/2 furlong sprint at Del Mar. “The Jet” broke sharply, albeit a bit outward, from the gate and jockey Alonzo Quinonez quickly straightened him out and shot right to the lead. From that point on it was catch me if you can. The gray son of Concord Point set the opening quarter in a quick 22 seconds flat while opening up a comfortable 2 length lead over his closest pursuer. After a half mile Concord Jet had opened up a 3 length lead through a 45.69 fraction, while looking like he would just pull away from the field. When they hit the stretch, Quinonez had to get after “The Jet” a bit as the race favorite Violent Behavior began cutting into that 3 length margin. In deep stretch, the handsome gray gelding had to dig in & was able to hang on gamely by 1/2 length under the strong urging by Quinonez. Concord Jet stopped the clock on the sealed track labeled wet fast in 1:04.13. It was another 3 3/4 lengths back to the 3rd place finisher, proving that it was basically a 2 horse race from the top of the stretch to the wire. Concord Jet now has 1 victory and a 3rd place finish in his young 6 race career with earnings of $19,635. His future is looking bright as he begins to mature and figure things out!

Concord Jet wins at Del Mar on 11/29/18

Concord Jet wins at Del Mar on 11/29/18

Congratulations to the Dare To Dream Stable Partners on this exciting and much anticipated victory. Concord Jet has shown flashes of talent and it was nice to see him finally put it all together. It was another terrific training job by Brian Koriner and his team, as Concord has proven to be a difficult student to figure out. Brian is having an excellent Del Mar meet for both our stable and his entire barn. It was also a very nice ride by jockey Alonzo Quinonez who was told to get the lead and see how far “The Jet” would take them. He followed that blueprint to a tee, taking them wire to wire! Finally congratulations to the one person who had the lone ticket on the pick 6 singled to Concord Jet! With “The Jet’s” victory that person took home a cool $218,929.00!

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Spiced Perfection wins the Betty Grable Stakes at Del Mar!

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November 11, 2018 | Del Mar, CA –  Spiced Perfection once again showed why she is among the best California Bred fillies out there right now after capturing a very tough edition of $100,000 Betty Grable Stakes at Del Mar in race 8 today. Spiced Perfection was coming off an excellent, narrowly beaten 3rd place effort on the grass in the Unzip Me Stakes down the hill at Santa Anita. Going back to her preferred surface on the main track & facing older horses for the first time in stakes competition, “Spicey” would need to run her best race to take this 7 furlongs contest.

Top jockey Flavien Prat was aboard Spiced Perfection for the first time and did a fantastic job getting the classy daughter of Smiling Tiger out of the gates quickly from her inside post, securing a great position stalking the expected speed of Love A Honey Badger and Gorgeous Ginny. After the opening quarter that was run in a swift 22.71, Spiced Perfection was just 2 lengths off the pace while Prat was saving ground along the rail. Approaching the turn “Spicey” was beginning to creep up a bit and had the look of a horse ready to explode, but with no room to do so. Once they straightened for home Prat realized he was sitting on a ton of horse, and was still looking for any type of opening he could put the filly’s head through. Flavien showed why he is regarded as one of the top jockeys on either coast when he eyed a very small opening and bulled his way in between Love A Honey Badger and S Y Sky. Spiced Perfection took over from there, instantaneously surging to the lead. From that point Spiced Perfection had all the momentum and pulled clear in rather easy fashion to win by a very comfortable 2 1/4 lengths, stopping the clock in 1:23.21 for the 7 furlongs. This was Spiced Perfection’s 5th win from 13 starts with 3 of those wins being Stakes. She also has 4 seconds and 2 thirds in her other eight races showing remarkable consistency throughout her young career. Her career earnings are now at a very impressive $442,405, with a bright future still in front of her!

Congratulations to all the Dare To Dream Stable partners who continue to enjoy this fabulous ride that Spiced Perfection has taken them on. A hearty shout out to trainer Brian Koriner and his staff for the terrific job training Spiced Perfection and keeping her happy and in great from throughout the year. Brian enjoyed quite a day on Sunday, winning 3 races on the 9 race Del Mar card. Thanks to jockey Flavien Prat on a fabulous & gutsy ride!

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Spiced Perfection wins again in allowance at Del Mar!

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08/24/18 | Del Mar, CA – Dare To Dream Stable’s 3 year-old multiple stakes winning filly Spiced Perfection got back to her winning ways in wearing down a solid group of allowance runners and pulling away at the finish to win by a widening 1 1/2 lengths at Del Mar in race 6 today.  “Spicey” was coming off an uncharacteristically dull performance in the $150K Fleet Treat Stakes for Cal Bred fillies back in July, finishing a disappointing 4th. With no other options currently available, Spiced Perfection was entered against open company and older horses for the first time while also donning blinkers for the first time. Spiced Perfection broke alertly and jockey Joe Talamo secured an outside stalking position about 3 lengths off the pace. Talamo kept that position while 3 deep on the backstretch and into the turn and he began to ask the bay daughter of Smiling Tiger for a bit more run as they hit the top of the stretch. As Spiced Perfection shifted out a bit more in the stretch, Talamo went to his left hand for urging and “Spicey” made a sustained move to get up on even terms with longtime leader Love A Honeybadger. About a sixteenth out, the determined filly took command of the race and shook clear in the final yards, pulling away with every stride to win clear by a widening 1 1/2 lengths in a snappy time of 1:10.56 under confident handling by Talamo. It was another 3 1/2 lengths back to the 3rd place finisher.

This was Spiced Perfection’s 4th win in her brief career, with 2 of those wins being stakes victories. She also has 4 runner-up finishes and a 3rd place finish in her 11 career starts. With this victory she now has amassed $372,985 in career earnings.

Congratulations to all the Dare To Dream Stable partners on this very gratifying win. We all knew that previous race was uncharacteristic and believed our champion filly would make amends. Kudos to trainer Brian Koriner and his staff on this win. Brian was very confident that the real “Spicey” would show up this time. He also decided to put blinkers on for the first time and she responded with a top performance. Jockey “Smokin” Joe Talamo once again proved that he and Spiced Perfection are a perfect fit. He has ridden her to perfection time and time again and been aboard her since her initial start as a 2 yr old.

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He’s No Bull wins by almost 10 lengths at Belterra Park!

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08/18/18 | Cincinnati, OH – Dare To Dream Stable’s homebred He’s No Bull, making only his second start, dominated a field of maidens by 10 lengths at Belterra Park in race 3. The gelded bay son of Haynesfield was coming off his maiden voyage where he broke a little slow in a five furlong dash and left himself a bit too much to do in the stretch while making a bit of a run. That was enough to show that added ground would benefit him in his next start. “The Bull” took the experience from his first race and move forward off that in a big way. This time when the starting gate sprung open, He’s No Bull broke very sharply and immediately went up right off the pacemaker in a stalking position sitting in 2nd. Jockey Dean Sarvis was sitting comfortably on him through an opening quarter of 23.22 on the deep Belterra Park dirt surface. Sarvis maintained that position through a half mile, still sitting in 2nd while only 1 1/2 lengths off the leader Imbeingfollowed. When they turned for home and hit the top of the stretch, Sarvis took aim on Imbeingfollowed. The veteran reinsman went to his vigorous left hand asking He’s No Bull for some more run. “The Bull” responded in a big way and went right by that long time leader while exploding through the stretch. He took full command of the race inside the 1/8th pole, opening up with every stride. In the end it was a dominating victory with He’s No Bull crossing the line 10 lengths in front in a final time of 1:13.48.

Congratulations to the Dare To Dream Stable team for this impressive first victory from a foal out of their mare, Devout Diva. This was Diva’s second foal to hit the races and first winner. Her other foal, She’s A Fine Line, has hit the board in 5 of 8 races and is on the cusp of hopefully breaking her maiden soon as well. Congratulations to trainer Danny Werre and Charlena Schenk Werre for their hard work and terrific job training He’s No Bull. From their fantastic Ellada Farm to The Thoroughbred Center, they have been with He’s No Bull since birth. Thanks to Jockey Dean Sarvis who rode “The Bull” with such confidence.

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Events

CONCORD JET – Del Mar race #1

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Dare To Dream Stable’s CONCORD JET runs at Del Mar in race 1. Brian Koriner trains and Alonso Quinonez is the jockey.