Hall of Fame - Big Dreams

Original article written by Marzy Dotes posted 13 years 3 weeks ago

Horseman Jon Xett clearly recalled the rather mysterious circumstances of how a young bay filly, with a build worthy of her regal pedigree wound up inside his barn even though he never actually witnessed her arrival.

“Big Dreams appeared in my stable out of the blue; as if in a dream,” he said.
And during the time she spent in his barn during her racing career, the filly became the stuff of which dreams were made. And in the process living up to the name that had been given her.

Big Dreams.

One that as it turned out suited her perfectly.

She may have been petite in stature but never at heart as she managed to navigate herself through two racing seasons facing all kinds of challengers in all kinds of conditions and remained undefeated. A feat accomplished by very few racing stars in the highly competitive and not very forgiving sport of horse racing. Perfection is eagerly sought by many a horse owner but very rarely attained but Big Dreams earned her admittance to a rather exclusive group of champions.

Her sire was the recently pensioned Mighty Big, a handsome chestnut by Hall of Famer Tremendous who during his career swept the American Triple Crown. He went on to stud and sired 70 winners mostly dirt routers like Mighty Big. His dam, Swift Spirit by Tasso never raced and only had the one foal.
Mighty Big himself sired 399 winners over his stud career before his fertility gave out, his most recent crop turning three this year. This competitor achieved most of his success while running dirt routes having won the Louisville Derby at a 1 ¼ mile distance. But it’s highly probable that he was versatile enough to be successful at shorter distances including the mile which he did several times in his career not disgracing himself. As a sire, his offspring were strongly drawn to that distance even though the stud attracted mares who specialized from sprints to routes.

Many like Mighty Black (whose dam, Black Lightning was a sprinter) were successful enough at the mile to win the Steward’s Cup Dirt Mile. North American Champion Three Year Old Filly Mighty Big Smile (whose dam Ghost of a Smile also sprinted) also fell in that group winning the Steward’s Cup Filly and Mare Dirt Mile but Jake who came in second in the Steward’s Cup Dirt Mile came from a dam with more of a routing background. And who could forget Big Tendency, the miler who ran a nine race winning streak? She’s out of Tendency (by dirt router Herkemayah) who could run a mile but focused on longer routes during her career.

Mighty Big also sired noteworthy runners who became stud horses after their racing days were done. Brash (out of a routing mare) won over $1 million during his middle distance racing career and has already sired 28 winners with one crop having reached the races for a full season. North American Champion Two Year Old Colt Armed Race who won at the mile and short routes, including the Steward’s Cup Juvenile at 1 1/16 miles. He moved on towards what looks to be a successful stud career. Like Mighty Big, these sires look to siring milers, the majority of whom are dirt runners with some all weather performers in the mix though it’s still too early to tell where their truth strengths lie.

Big Dreams was one of Mighty Big’s finest runners but she really didn’t specialize in only one distance during her career. Her dam was the mighty Hall of Famer and champion runner, Cadeauje who won nine out of 10 of her lifetime starts at a variety of distances as well. She dominated in almost all of her races beating out great horses and some future broodmares like Kudos who produced Tremendous Machine. Her only defeat occurred in the Steward’s Cup Distaff, the year it pitted some of the future legendary mares such as Tiara, Parade and Piece of the Dream together in one competition. Cadeauje gave it her best shot but finished third. Still, her career in the breeding shift superseded her running career as she produced some of the most influential runners and future breeders in racing including Indian, Kiddo, Radee and Tiger, not to mention last year’s North American Horse of the Year and Steward’s Cup Classic winner Lofty Goals and two time Steward’s Cup Ladies Route winner Clearly Best. Her feats won her the title of Broodmare of the Year before her untimely death while foaling the last of her offspring.

With breeding like that, Xett knew he had a special filly on his hands in Big Dreams and that he had to make the decisions that would honor the gift that he had been given.

“Sometimes players are given the opportunity to race Steward bred horses; my only thought was don't mess around with this nice filly,” Xett recalled, “I had a nice filly named Azelia Bay that I got to the magical number of thirteen wins. I was hoping to do the same with Big Dreams but her 9 wins were all amazing.

Big Dreams was indeed a product of royalty and she began her career as a juvenile after blazing the track in the mornings including zipping four furlongs in: 45.48. That time is still the second fastest ever turned in at that distance. But she was no “morning glory” as the racing world would soon discover after she entered her first maiden race at six furlongs and won it by 8 ½ lengths. She would never cross the finish line behind another race horse in any of her nine races and she would never taste defeat. During her juvenile season, she captured three stakes including both the Sorority and Frizette Stakes before taking a month off to rest up for her three year old campaign.

The rest and relaxation must have done her some good because she breezed to a resounding victory in the Northern Kentucky Oaks by 10 ½ lengths over Demonry, scoring a 90 speed figure in her seasonal debut. She moved on ahead winning a series of stakes wins before lining up at the starting line of what would be her final race, the Ruffian Handicap. She won that race by four lengths, was selected as the North American champion three year old filly and soon after, hung up her tack and began her second career in the breeding shed. Retiring an undefeated filly in her prime might seem to be a controversial decision but as it turned out, Big Dreams would turn out to be well the broodmare that dreams were made of.

Gift Of The Moon who’s by stakes winning Out of Kindness, was her first foal, a filly who went on to win 10 out of her 13 starts including many stakes during the three years that she raced on the track. Her victories included the Inglewood Futurity where she defeated males, including Steam Engine and Anvil and the Southern California Oaks where she defeated North American Champion Two Year Old Filly Babe Ruth. She also won the New Jersey Distaff, the Crescent City Stakes and the City Sound Stakes. During her career, she hit the Steward’s Cup twice, finishing third and then in her final start, eighth in the Filly and Mare Dirt Mile. After retiring, she headed to the breeding shed where she produced Temple Stakes winner Mask of the Moon (by former North American Champion Two Year Old Male Cape) as well as two unraced offspring.
Xett had some great memories of this daughter of Big Dreams, much as he had with her dam.

“Gift of the Moon reminds me of Piece of the Moon, Cadeauje and Big Dreams who were born, raced and bred in the spirit of the game,” he said, “That spirit encompasses fun, excitement, anticipation, giving, and more importantly, a feeling of a real flesh and blood thoroughbred horse racing experience. She was a dream come true.

Millionaire Derby Dreams (by Derby Report) came next, an attractive chestnut colt who sold for just over $6.5 million at auction and then went on to hit the board in all but one of his 15 career starts, winning 12 of them. He captured many stakes including a trio of them in Puerto Rico as a three year old along with the Caribbean Classic and Sports Jersey Stakes, defeating famed horses like Fable, Fire Added Starter and others. By the end of his illustrious career, Derby Dreams had won both the Islands horse of the year and champion three year old male titles. He would then go to stud with his oldest foals currently being unraced two year olds.

Recent Elusive Pegasus Handicap runner up Big Gamble (who’s by Hall of Famer Loki Dynasty) sold for a hefty $7.5 million at auction but the winner’s circle has been a bit more elusive for him so far. He’s won five out of 16 starts including the Fog City Stakes and the Boston Handicap but he’s still got more of his racing career ahead of him so it’s too soon to determine whether this big gamble will pay off.

Worth a Fortune ( a daughter of Live Strong) cost nearly that selling for $7.750 million at auction and so far, she’s finished on the board in all of her nine starts, winning three of them. So far her distance of choice has been the dirt mile and she finished third in last year’s Steward’s Cup Filly and Mare Dirt Mile. Before that, she won stakes like the Batman Stakes and Long Island Oaks and placed second in others like the Metropolitan Cup and Long Island Ladies Mile. She’s still active in racing and won her seasonal debut in the Crescent City Stakes.

Another filly, Dream Seeker (by former North American Champion Older Male Seek Thrills) followed and she sold for just over $7 million on the auction block as a yearling. She won her first three races including stakes like the Long Island Matron Stakes before her third place finish in the Steward’s Cup Juvenile Fillies behind Hazel Annie and Hit the Snooze. She faced off against a fairly competitive field of fillies in the Southern California Oaks and finished third.

Be My Baby (by recently pensioned super sire American Baby)sold for a jaw dropping $11 million and change as a yearling. She rewarded that confidence in her talent with some pretty swift morning works on the track.

Her latest foal, Big Bucks (by former North American Horse of the Year Buckingham) hasn’t sold at auction yet but should live up to his name command a pretty big price tag based on his pedigree and the success of his dam as a producer of high-quality horses.

These days Big Dreams spends her days living in luxury at the Trial by Summer Stables receiving updates on how her offspring are performing in the track and in the breeding shed. And at the age of 10, she still has several years of breeding left to produce even more great racing stock.

Her breeding success hasn’t surprised Xett who knew that Big Dreams encompassed the package of what made a truly successful horse, one who someday might become a legend.

“I guess I should say that I knew she was special when she worked blazing fast or when she won sprinting or when she just kept on winning for fun; but I actually knew she was special when she was bred. P Cubed, Elusive by Design and of course Cadeauje were all extremely special brood mares to me. When you add the sire lines of the Louisville Derby winner, Mighty Big who is by my triple crown winner, Trememdous who in turn was out of my stable making blue-hen mare, Pike Place Dancer, well, I knew that filly would be lightening in a bottle.”

And now the filly who mysteriously appeared in a man’s barn and then became a tremendous success on the track and inside the breeding shed has now been duly commemorated in the Hall of Fame.

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