Now six years old, Il Sogno Dream remains with the top trotting ranks. Exceeding $1-million in career earnings after finishing fourth in a Preferred at Mohawk, the Cantab Hall son from the Fill V mare La Reve will continue to compete at the top level, starting from post three in the $185,000 Cleveland Trotting Classic on Saturday, July 1 at Northfield Park.
“He’s just like a little ATM,” co-owner Bill Manes said. “Chris Beaver and Victor Puddy both do a good job with him. [The horse] is very easy on himself.”
A winner of 20 races over 75 starts, Il Sogno Dream has competed for the interests of Manes along with partners Dan Manes, and Leonard and Randy Christopher, and is also their first millionaire. Following a stakes campaign last year including starts in the Maple Leaf Trot, the John Cashman Memorial, and the Breeders Crown, Il Sogno Dream was shut down in December to go to stud.
“Last year we just wanted to do a test breeding with him,” Manes said. “We test bred him in the fall and it showed that he was very potent, so we decided to breed him during the spring and bring him back to race this year. If we have a successful year we will do the same thing next year. If he’s not competitive, we’ll just retire him to stud.”
Il Sogno Dream stood at Mac Lilley Farms in Ontario. There, he was bred to around 70 to 80 mares up until late June, which, with a few starts under his belt, he was being shipped from the track back to the breeding shed. Manes said that those mares turned out with “very little promotion” and that they will promote him more when he returns to breeding at the end of the year.
Manes decided to try double duty, racing and breeding Il Sogno Dream, on the advice of friends and colleagues. Since taking on the task, Il Sogno Dream has, according to Manes, matured.
“He’s become more ‘studdy’ I guess you’d call him; his attitude has changed [since going to stud],” Manes said. “It seems like his testosterone is higher -- he seems to want to race more, like he’s performing for something.”
Last year, Il Sogno Dream’s best stakes finishes came in the $200,000 Maxie Lee Invitational, where he was second, and in an elimination for the Maple Leaf Trot, where he was also second. He amassed $198,063 over his starts in stakes and overnights last year, only winning twice in the Preferred ranks following an eighth-place finish in the Breeders Crown.
“When you get to that [top] level, post position is a huge factor, and last year we didn’t have a lot of great post-position draws,” Manes said. “Even the best horses can get beat with a bad post.”
Il Sogno Dream started from post four in last year’s Cleveland Trotting Classic, finishing fourth, and from post eight in the 2015 edition, finishing sixth. Drawing further inside, he enters with five miles in him, including a 1:53.1 win in the Preferred on June 16.
“Obrigado, Resolve, and Crazy Wow are the top three [in the division] right now, but if [Il Sogno Dream] shows up, he should be right there with them,” Manes said.
With a return to stud billings slated for the end of the season, Il Sogno Dream still has the chance to challenge the top trotters in races including the Maple Leaf Trot and the Breeders Crown.
“This may be his last big start in July,” Manes said. “I don’t think his next big race is until the John Cashman in August, so Chris [Beaver] will probably give him a race or two at Scioto.
“They all go for good money; they’re all big races to us,” Manes also said. “We’ve never experienced a horse of this caliber, so we’ll just take each race at a time.”
The 2017 Cleveland Trotting Classic field appears below.
(Horse-Driver-Trainer-Morning Line Odds)
1 – Resolve – Ake Svanstedt – Ake Svanstedt – 8-5
2 – Crazy Wow – Chris Page – Ron Burke – 3-1
3 – Il Sogno Dream – Aaron Merriman – Christopher Beaver – 10-1
4 – Obrigado – Mark MacDonald – Paul Kelley – 9-2
5 – Fly Jesse Fly – Kurt Sugg – Ron Otto – 20-1
6 – Maestro Blue Chip – Ronnie Wrenn Jr. – Scott Di Domenico – 12-1
7 – Homicide Hunter – Josh Sutton – Chris Oakes – 8-1
8 – Will Take Charge – Dan Noble – John Bax – 15-1
(A Trot Insider Exclusive by Ray Cotolo)