Dream Central slips through between rivals to win Sunday’s Cupecoy’s Joy division of the NYSS. Chelsea Durand/NYRA Photo.
By Tom Law
Dream Central became the latest success for the breeder-owner-trainer combination that produced stakes-winning full brothers Chowda and Lobsta with an upset victory in Sunday’s $150,000 Cup’coy’s Joy division of the New York Stallion Series Stakes at Belmont Park.
The 3-year-old daughter of 2021 leading New York sire Central Banker upset the 7-furlong restricted turf stakes at 39-1, giving breeder John Jayko’s Fedwell Farm, owner Eddie Fazzone’s Eddie F’s Racing and trainer Gary Sciacca plenty to celebrate on Father’s Day. Dream Central split rivals late to win by Cupecoy’s Joy by a neck under Jose Lezcano, returning $81.50 to her backers by winning for the first time in seven starts.
Dream Central led a 1-2-3 finish for maidens in the Cupecoy’s Joy, outrunning Robyn and Eli and pacesetting Royal Dancer late to trigger a $320.50 exacta for a $1 wager and a $1,333 trifecta for a 50-cent bet.
Dream Central came into Sunday’s race off a third in a 6-furlong turf maiden and a seventh in another at 7 furlongs this spring, both at Belmont. Sciacca said the filly trained well in recent weeks but still didn’t expect her winning performance.
“Eddie really wanted to run here,” Sciacca said. “Two months ago, he picked this spot out. He wanted to run here no matter what. We had a couple of bad breaks with her. A couple of times, things didn’t go right. But she got it all together today.”
Fazzone and Sciacca teamed to win the Thunder Rumble division of the NYSS late last year and the Say Florida Sandy Stakes in January with the 4-year-old Emcee gelding Lobsta. They also campaign the 5-year-old gelding Chowda, winner of the 2020 Gander Stakes. Chowda, Lobsta and Dream Central were all bred by Jayko’s Fedwell Farms in Saratoga Springs.
“I knew she was a decent filly. She was training well,” Fazzone said. “We tried her on the dirt when she first came up, and she hated the dirt. She was doing really well when we brought her back. The maiden race last time, she wasn’t paying attention. She was looking around. The first time on the turf this year she ran a nice third, so we knew she’d love the grass. Seven furlongs I thought would be her best distance, too. I saw the race and said, ‘This is the race right here.’ ”
“I love it [the New York-bred program], it’s great. … It’s the best racing going, the horses are great. The sire stakes here are nice.”
Dream Central and Lezcano raced sixth early while Royal Dancer set the pace, clicking off splits of :22.36 and :45.50 to the opening half-mile. Lezcano saved around around the turn and gradually inched up.
Dream Central cut the corner turning for home, just as Royal Dancer opened up a 2-length lead in the lane. Robyn and Eli, the 4-1 third choice in the field of 11 under Manny Franco, also advanced in the lane while on the outside of the leader. Dream Central split Royal Dancer to her inside and Robyn and Eli to her outside inside the final sixteenth to get up in time in 1:21.57.
“My filly didn’t get out when I needed and then the other horse [Robyn and Eli] tried to hold me over there. [Franco] did his job. But my filly, when I asked her, she really responded and finished the job. She picked it up real good and the other horse was fighting back at the same time.”
Robyn and Eli were a half-length ahead of Royal Dancer, who finished 2 1/4 lengths clear of stakes winner and 3-1 favorite Howdyoumakeurmoney in fourth.
Dream Central earned $82,500 for the win to boost her bankroll to $95,917. She’s is the fourth foal out of the stakes-placed winning Deputy Wild Cat mare Dreamed to Dream, who was purchased by Jayko in foal to Point of Entry for $7,500 at the 2018 OBS winter mixed sale. She produced the New York-bred gelding Dreampoint from that mating and he’s placed five times from 16 starts and earned $70,393 for Eddie F’s Racing and Sciacca.
Dreamed to Dream’s first foal, the Treasure Beach mare Beach Dreaming, was a five-time winner of $108,280. She’s also the dam of stakes winner Dreamalildreamofu, who is graded-stakes placed and the earner of $289,403. Dreamalildreamofu sold for $235,000 at last year’s Keeneland November breeding stock sale.
Dreamed to Dream is also the dam of an unraced 2-year-old New York-bred filly by Klimt named Secessionist and a colt by Speightster born in New York Feb. 20.
