Managed by the very private but internationally recognized Jean-Pierre Dubois, trotting stallion Taurus Dream demonstrated his worth as a sire in 2010 through some speedy on-track offspring. Today, the breeder of Val Taurus, Crys Dream, and Intense America adds an O'Brien nomination to his list of accomplishments, but in reflecting on the career of his travelling stallion, Dubois admits he made some risky moves along the way.
By Perry Lefko
Like some lyrics from the well-known Johnny Cash song I’ve Been Everywhere, Taurus Dream has done some travelling. Between his career as a racehorse and that as a stud (which occasionally crossed paths), Taurus Dream has seen plenty of North America, and Europe as well.
If that seems a tad, unusual, well... it is. The french horseman who bred, raised, raced and now stands the horse, Jean Pierre Dubois, readily admits that. “I do not have any particular philosophies, except for trying to raise my horses as naturally as possible,” he says, “but I don’t think I could have made more mistakes with this stallion’s career than I did. I hope staying in Ontario now will be the best decision I have made for him.”
Dubois, a 70-year-old native of Cotes d’Armor, France, operates under the nom de plume Dream With Me Stable, which translates to French as Ecurie Reve Avec Moi. A 2010 O’Brien finalist for Armstrong Breeder of the Year, he had great success this past year with various horses, nearly all of them sired by Taurus Dream. The two-year-old filly trotter Crys Dream has already laid claim to a Dan Patch Award south of the border and is an O’Brien Award finalist as well.
The Frenchman divides his time between France and North America, standing stallions in both regions and breeding them primarily to his own mares. He is known to do some unusual things – like breed American horses to French ones, and vice-versa. “He is a person who doesn’t think like the average breeder,” notes standardbred breeding guru Norman Hall. “Perhaps that’s why he is so successful. He’s very inventive. He’s not afraid to try different things. He was breeding French stallions to American mares and vice-versa at a time when it wasn’t allowed. He couldn’t even get them registered in France. He basically forced the industry to recognize them because of their performance.”
Taurus Dream is an example of that mixed blood, says Hall. Dubois produced the colt by crossing Sir Taurus with the On The Take mare Uniformite JP; there is a heavy influence of French blood on the dam side. And the horse had a very successful career, winning 12 of 34 starts, finishing on the board 19 times, and banking $552,391 in lifetime earnings. Twice he was voted New York Sires Stakes champion. “He was always a quality horse from the beginning, fast and athletic,” recalls Dubois.
“He had more speed off of the gate than any trotter I’ve ever driven – by far,” driver Mickey McNichol once said of Taurus Dream. “He was the handiest trotter I’ve ever driven.”
As a three-year-old, he charted a smashing 11-length victory in a New York Sires Stake start, and established a mark of 1:55.1 in a division of the Hambletonian. Though he scorched the Meadowlands oval in the Hambletonian final– carving out the opening three-quarters in a sizzling 1:23.2 – he succumbed in the final quarter and finished fifth by the better part of seven lengths. He raced five more times that season, ending it with a second-place finish in a three-year-old Open Handicap at the Hippodrome in Montreal – at that point, it was one of the first times he’d trotted on Canadian soil.
The following winter, Dubois bred the colt to 30 mares.
“He only had a few mares because he was not known yet in that area,” he says, “and Quebec had only a small pool of mares to breed to.”
But because the horse was still in great shape after his first season at stud, Dubois opted to try him on the track again. Taurus Dream raced just once as a four-year-old, placing a distant sixth in a field of nine in the Frank Ryan Stakes at Rideau Carleton in Ottawa. After the less-than-impressive performance, Dubois put the horse away for the year and trained him towards a five-year-old season of racing in Europe. By this time, a half-interest in the colt had been sold to European interests.
As a five-year-old, Taurus Dream raced a total of 10 times, with seven starts in Italy and three in France, winning just once from all those attempts. Dubois re-purchased the half-interest he sold in the horse and brought him back to Canada to stand full-time in Quebec in 2006. Taurus Dream was booked to 53 mares that season, and 95 the next season – a single-season booking record (which still stands) for the horse.
For the 2008 season, Taurus Dream – at the last minute – was moved from Quebec to New York and stationed at a farm by the Canadian border. Little to no advertising was done for the move, Dubois laments. “I do not think it was the right place for him. It would have been better to place him more in central New York. We put him there mostly to be close to us to breed our mares. I was looking to return to race in New York with the offspring.”
From New York, he was moved to Indiana the following year and had only 10 bookings. “Indiana had just started promoting its new program that seemed promising,” Dubois says. “We have a farm in Kentucky that neighbors Indiana; again, close to breed our mares and a few others since little and late advertising was done. It was a lot of word of mouth and most people had already decided what stallion they were going to breed their mares to.”
So in 2010 Taurus Dream was moved yet again, this time back to Dubois’ farm in Quebec after the owner heard racing would resume there. But Taurus Dream booked just 15 mares in La Belle Province. “I hoped to return to race in Quebec,” says Dubois. “I also wanted to encourage the province’s racing program. We often moved this stallion in relation to where I wanted to race. But it was certainly a major mistake for the horse’s stallion career to move.”
“Sires normally stay in one spot place for most of their career, but this particular sire was a victim of circumstance, not choice, because of the situation in Quebec,” reasons Hall. “He was also controlled by Dubois, who was going to use him primarily on his own mares rather than use him publicly. Dubois is a most unique guy. He does things a lot different from what most people do.”
The horse had his first major success as a sire in 2006 with Val Taurus, whom Dubois bred in Quebec and shipped to France to foal. The colt raced impressively enough in his first three starts, and publishing executive Marc-Aime Guerin made an undisclosed offer to Dubois to purchase the colt for his daughter, Lorraine Auger. Dubois accepted. Trained by Normand Bardier Jr. and driven in his rookie season by Mario Lachance, Val Taurus didn’t lose in eight starts at the Hippodrome Montreal; the speedy trotter was named a finalist for the O’Brien Awards as a two-year-old.
Val Taurus became a monster horse in Quebec the following year, winning his first seven starts as a three-year-old. He was pointed to the $1 million Canadian Trotting Classic at Mohawk Raceway in Campbellville, Ontario, where his competition included American invader and Hambletonian Champion Donato Hanover, who held a 15-race win streak, and World Champion trotting filly Pampered Princess. It became quickly apparent that this was more than just a race – it was a chance to showcase a strong Quebec horse and expectations were high.
In his elimination Taurus Dream missed Donato but drew in against the filly. She was sent off as the odds-on favourite but despite a perfect two-hole trip behind him, she couldn’t get anywhere near Val Taurus in the stretch. He powered off for Trevor Ritchie to easily win his first lifetime start outside of Quebec by two and a quarter lengths in a lifetime best clocking of 1:53.2. Meanwhile, Donato won his split in 1:52.3 and the stage was set for the rich final.
But the expected battle never materialized. Val Taurus broke stride unexpectedly early and finished a disappointing tenth. Isabelle Bardier (the trainer’s wife), said their protege, who was hotly wired, became mentally undone. His connections and all others who had high hopes for Val Taurus were emotionally crushed. “It was a very special race that night, and it was very, very sad and too emotional,” Isabelle says. “It just happened like that.”
He rebounded to win a $200,000 stakes race in his next start, but was never quite the same afterward, finishing his career with 16 wins in 24 starts and banking lifetime earnings of $384,922.
In 2010 Taurus Dream proved his value as a sire yet again, despite his limited slate of racing progeny. The success was headed by Crys Dream; bred by Dubois and owned with Deo Volente Farm and TLP Stable, the bay, February foal won seven of eight starts as a juvenile, all in Ontario, and banked $596,065. A half-sister to Brigham Dream, who won the 2008 Breeders Crown race for open mares, Crys Dream claimed victory in the Champlain, Peaceful Way and the $502,000 Goldsmith Maid Stakes to end the season. She set a Woodbine track record, winning her division of the Goldsmith Maid in 1:55.1, lowering the previous mark by two-fifths of a second. One week later – in the final – she lowered her new record, winning in 1:54.3 (just one-fifth of a second off of the all-time Canadian standard). “She is the best two-year-old filly I have ever sat behind and she could be one of the best of all time,” praised driver Luc Ouellette after the victory. “This filly is extremely powerful. She’s really handy and smart and that’s what makes a great horse.”
Another Taurus Dream two-year-old, Intense America, won three of five starts and $141,500 in 2010. The bay April foal out of the Yankee Glide mare Intensite placed second by only three-quarters of a length to Crys Dream in the Peaceful Way final. She closed out the season with consecutive wins at the Red Mile in Lexington, including a record 19-length score in her last start in a sharp 1:54.4. The fact that this filly is now trained by Bardier Jr. (former trainer of Val Taurus) pleases Dubois. “Normand Bardier Jr. is an excellent trainer that has been a big part in the success of Taurus Dream”, recounts the breeder. “We’re very thankful for the great work that Norm has done, and happy to see his work pay off again with Intense America.”
Intense America is one of three two-year-old filly trotters Dubois sold to Gaetan Bono, a Montreal fruit and wholesale retailer who’s been buying racehorses for more than 20 years. Two weeks after the purchase, the filly began to show her potential and the decision was made to send her to Toronto to try the top horses in her age, gait and sex. “Gaetan Bono has been a friend for a long time,” says Dubois. “I am very happy and proud of the results the horses we sold him have had. The stable is a business and to continue to keep the ball rolling horses need to be sold. We cannot keep them all.”
The success of these two fillies last year has stamped Taurus Dream, at last, as a noteworthy sire. “To have one is to be a fluke, but to have two you have to be a good sire,” Bono insists. “Do I consider him a good sire? I think he can go with the best in North America definitely. He can compete with anybody. I’m breeding five of my best mares to him. Honestly. I think he’s going to be a great, great sire. This is not a fluke horse. This horse can get good horses. It’s not a fluke Crys Dream and Intense America. The other two I bought from him – they’re very good also. They’re not at that level but they’re very good. They’re going to be good three-year-olds. I’m not trying to make publicity for Taurus Dream. That’s my personal thought. I think he can compete with the best in North America; not only in Ontario but North America.”
“As long as Dubois is picking mares to breed to him, he’ll do well,” admits Hall. “Every sire has the capability to produce a champion, but the problem is getting the opportunity – meaning getting the right mares in the first three or four crops. With Dubois, he had the right kind of mares and knew what to breed to, so he was going to get one. As long as he’s managing (Taurus Dream) and breeding mares to him, he’ll get another (quality foal) and another one.”
Now for the 2011 season, Dubois has brought Taurus Dream to Ontario to reside on property he bought in 2008. The horseman now plans to concentrate his efforts in the province of Ontario because the races and the tracks are well organized. He also likes being close to so many different tracks. “It was certainly a major mistake for the horse’s career as a stallion to move him so often,” Dubois says.
So it would appear – for the time being anyway – that Taurus Dream’s travels on the racetrack and then in the breeding shed have come to a permanent stop. But his influence as a sire, it seems, may be just starting.