Former Bart Cummings trained galloper Dare To Dream has been placed on the market as a sire prospect.
The lightly-raced Irish-bred stallion is son of Danehill Dancer and his dam was a Group 3 winner of the Dahlia Stakes at Newmarket.
Gavel House is selling him on behalf of a syndicate that includes part-owner Richard Pegum. “He comes up beautifully,” Pegum declared when Dare To Dream arrived in Australia. “I believe he has the most potential of any horse we have ever brought over here.”
That’s high praise given Pegum has part-owned Group 1 winning imports My Kingdom Of Fife (AJC Queen Elizabeth Stakes) and December Draw (VRC Turnbull Stakes).
Dare To Dream (6h Danehill Dancer – Beneventa by Most Welcome) was heading in the same direction until a tendon injury brought his career to a premature finish after just 9 starts in England and Australia.
He was originally registered as Dare to Dance in England and was quickly into gear winning second time out over 1600m at Sandown for trainer Jeremy Noseda.
He followed up with a two length victory over 2000m at Newmarket and increased the margin to three lengths when completing a hat-trick like an odds-on favourite over the same distance at Ayr.
Those victories qualified Dare To Dream for the time-honoured G2 Cambridgeshire at Newmarket. “He has scope for further improvement and is only just beginning to grasp what is required,” Noseda said. “I feel he has a big future in front of him as a four-year-old.”
Dare To Dream firmed from 16-1 into an 8-1 joint-favourite for the Cambridgeshire but he was withdrawn in advance of a transfer to Australia.
Allowed to acclimatise by Cummings, the 16.1hh stallion was a handful for apprentice James McDonald first-up in the G3 Bill Ritchie Hcp (1400m) at Randwick in September 2012. He raced more generously next time out when only going down a half-length to Mourayan in the G3 Craven Plate (2000m).
Cummings sent him south for a last-minute attempt to gain a start in the Melbourne Cup but Dare To Dream just missed out when beaten a neck by Kelinni in the G3 Lexus Stakes after being disappointed for a run in the straight.
He backed up in the G3 Queen Elizabeth Stakes on the last day of the carnival and finished a creditable fourth behind tearaway winner Puissance De Lune.
Connections were confident of a ground-breaking campaign in 2013, however, he was sidelined with a bowed tendon and then aggravated the injury in April.
Dare To Dream is by champion sire Danehill Dancer who has just been retired by Coolmore Stud. The 21 year-old is the sire of Coolmore’s successful dual-hemisphere stallion Choisir and up-and-coming New Zealand shuttler Mastercraftsman.
His dam Beneventa won 7 races when trained by John Dunlop and, apart from the G3 Dahlia Stakes, she was also successful in the LR Aphrodite Stakes at Newmarket and LR Snowdrop Stakes at Kempton.
Her current three year-old is promising Shamardal colt Bow Creek. He was a Listed winner for Sheikh Hamdan at Lingfield in April and holds a Group 1 entry for the St James’s Palace Stakes at Royal Ascot next Tuesday.
For more information on Dare To Dream, Gary Moore at Gavel House can be contacted on (03) 9499 2229 or www.gavelhouse.com
DARE TO DREAM