By Brian Sheerin
Dreamloper's owner-breeder Olivia Hoare has admitted to being overcome with emotion ahead of a trip of a lifetime to the Breeders' Cup to see her dual Group 1-winning homebred bow out from racing on the biggest stage of all.
Trained by Ed Walker to win two top-flight races at ParisLongchamp this season, Dreamloper (Ire) (Lope De Vega {Ire}) is likely to race for the final time in the GI Breeders' Cup Mile given the 5-year-old is entered up in the Keeneland November Breeding Stock Sale next week.
The decision to allow Dreamloper to go under the hammer after Saturday's race, for which she is as short as 6-1 with most firms, was one of the most difficult ones Hoare has ever faced, according to the enthusiastic owner.
However, she will retain a major interest in the family and reports Dreamloper's dam Livia's Dream (Ire) to be in foal to Lope De Vega (Ire), meaning a full-sibling is expected on the ground in the spring.
Hoare, who is in her mid-70s, said, “I'm excited and terrified at the same time. I get very nervous when she races. We watched the draw for the Breeders' Cup Mile the other night and, as the outside stalls had been filled by the time her name was called out, I grew in confidence.”
She added, “It's been incredibly exciting following Dreamloper. The highlights were unquestionably the two races in Paris this summer. I was there with my step grandchildren and step granddaughter and the children could not believe that the adults were jumping up and down and screaming their heads off. They were greatly entertained. That was tremendously exciting.”
The Dreamloper story began in 2010 when Hoare purchased her dam, Livia's Dream, from Luke Lillingston's Mount Coote Stud at Book 1 at Tattersalls for 45,000gns.
Lillingston, who boards many of Hoare's mares and has acted as an agent on behalf of the Roscommon native for over a decade, was not present when she viewed the then diminutive yearling by Teofilo (Ire).
However, Hoare remembers how Lillingston's father provided her with some inspiration ahead of the sale, and she hasn't looked back since.
She recalled, “Dreamloper always had a remarkable walk. I'm not very good at judging foals but, when she was a yearling, I said, 'you've got your mother's walk and, if you have her gumption, you'll be fine.'
“I love Lope De Vega. I went with Luke, who looks after a lot of my mares, to see a few stallions and thought he was the business down at Ballylinch Stud. With her mother's determination and her father's talent, I expected things from her.”
Hoare added, “Luke is also my agent and I went out of politeness to see his horses at Tattersalls in 2010. He would never tell me anything about the offerings of Mount Coote Stud and is very professional with things like that.
“But when he was on his lunch break, I went to see the horses and, while Luke's father told me that Livia's Dream was very small, he also told me that she was the fastest of the yearlings. I thought, 'well, that's good enough for me.' I got a friend of mine to bid on her while I hid and we got her for 45,000gns.”
Livia's Dream was then sent to Ed Walker who, along with John Murphy in Ireland, trains the majority of Hoare's horses. The filly was talented, winning four times, including at listed level but Dreamloper has exceeded all expectations.
Hoare explained, “Livia's Dream was one of the first outside horses Ed trained. It was the first year he was training. Ed is a wonderful communicator and is an awfully nice young man.
“I own her outright now. I leased her to my son for a couple of years and that lease ran out last month. I share her with my sister but I am the major owner.
“The dam is in foal to Lope De Vega so I am hoping, please God, to have a full-sibling next year. It was a heartbreaking decision to offer Dreamloper for sale at Keeneland's November Breeding Stock Sale but there will potentially be a lot of money on offer and things can go wrong in this game.”
She added, “I've had my share of ups and downs with horses and risking not getting her in foal or missing a year is too much for me right now. She has become too valuable. I took this on as a hobby but it has turned into a business. My business brain tells me that now is a good time to get out and concentrate on the rest of the family. Livia's Dream is still quite young at 13 and I am hoping that she can deliver a few more for us.”
Before then, there is that trip of a lifetime to the Breeders' Cup negotiate, and Hoare is predicting her star filly to bow out with a bang.
“Ed is very positive. We are all very positive, I'm delighted to say. We were all on the phone together last night and we think stall three should be perfect for her. I think she's in with a good chance. Let's hope she can be bang there.”
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