Mt. Brilliant - Farm News

DREAMING OF ANNA---------------------------------------------------------------

Dreaming of the Beverly D...OHometwon connections of Frank C. Calabrese and Wayne Catalano will be represented in Saturdays G. I Beverly D. S. at Arlington Park with champion Dreaming of Anna (Rahy)....READ MORE http://www.thoroughbreddailynews.com/restricted/pdf/tdn/tdn080806_9.pdf?CFID=18179464&CFTOKEN=35754323

Dreaming of Anna Takes Final CD Stakes On a day in which short-priced winners in graded stakes produced a Pick 6 that paid a scant $48, champion Dreaming of Anna closed out the action at Churchill Downs June 14 with a win in the Early Times Mint Julep Handicap (gr. III). READ MORE http://http://racing.bloodhorse.com/article/45737.htm

'Anna Noses 'Princess in Endeavor

Frank Calabrese’s homebred Dreaming of Anna kicked off her 4-year-old campaign with a photo finish that was almost too close to call when she outbobbed 6-5 favorite Lear’s Princess in the $150,000 Endeavour Stakes (gr. IIIT) at Tampa Bay Downs Feb. 16. http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=43681

Dreaming of Anna Faces Stiff QEII Test

Champion filly Dreaming of Anna will put her three-race win streak on the line and get her final prep for the Breeders' Cup World Thoroughbred Championships in the $500,000 Queen Elizabeth II Challenge Cup Stakes (gr. IT) Oct. 13 on Keeneland's Haggin Turf Course. http://racing.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=41263

Dreaming of Anna Digs In, Wins Virginia Oaks

Dreaming of Anna, the 2006 champion juvenile filly who struggled earlier this year, appears to be back on her game with a return to the turf. The Frank Clabrese homebred went gate to wire to win the $210,000 Virginia Oaks at Colonial Downs by a half-length Saturday. http://racing.bloodhorse.com/viewstroy.asp?id=39849

Champion Dreaming of Anna Tops Virginia Oaks

The fourth edition of the $200,000 Virginai Oaks will feature a Virgina horse racing fan's dream match-up of champion Dreaming of Anna, the best 2-year-old filly ever to grace Colonial's Secretariat Turf Course, and Grade I winner Christmas Kid, arguably the best Virginia-bred in training. http://www.colonialdowsn.com/news/651.html

Half-Sister to Champion Dreaming of Anna Born

http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=38595

SAFARI QUEEN AMONG CHOICES IN THE VERY ONE SUNDAY DREAMING OF ANNA WHEEL BACK IN GAILY GAILY

Arindel Farm’s 5-year-old Argentine-bred mare Safari Queen could end up favored against eight rival fillies and mares entered in Sunday’s $100,000 The Very One Handicap (G3) going 1 3/8 miles on turf at Gulfstream Park.

The Very One will share the spotlight on the Sunday program with the $100,000 Gaily Gaily Stakes for 3-year-old fillies at 1 1/16 miles on turf with Frank Calabrese’s 2006 Eclipse champion 2-year-old filly Dreaming of Anna bidding to get back on the winning track after a disappointing third-place finish in the Old Hat Stakes (G3) here two weeks ago.

http://www.gulfstreampark.com/RACING/NEWS/Press+Releases/Details/very+one.htm

Champion Filly Dreaming of Anna Returns in Old Hat(from Gulfstream Park report)
Frank Calabrese’s undefeated Eclipse champion filly Dreaming of Anna makes her highly anticipated 3-year-old debut in Saturday’s $150,000 Old Hat Stakes (gr. III) at Gulfstream Park, facing five rivals in the 6 1/2-furlong test with Rene Douglas aboard. http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=37478

'All Other Fillies' Favored In First Kentucky Oaks Future Pool
Frank Calabrese's unbeaten homebred Dreaming of Anna, winner of the $2 million Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I) and champion 2-year-old filly of 2006, figures to draw a lot of attention, but the wagering interest that consists of "all other 3-year-old fillies" is a lukewarm morning line favorite for the Feb. 8-11 opening pool of Churchill Downs' 2007 Kentucky Oaks Future Wager.

http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=37441

Dreaming of Anna Possible for Next Weekend:

Frank Calabrese’s champion two-year-old filly Dreaming of Anna (Rahy) earned the Palm Meadows bullet for five furlongs yesterday morning, stopping the clock in :59. It was the best of 26 moves at the distance for the chestnut filly, who could make her 2007 debut in one of two spots next weekend. Dreaming of Anna holds entries in both the GII Davona Dale S. going a flat mile and the GIII Old Hat S. over 6 1/2 furlongs. Both events are part of the Feb. 10 card at Gulfstream Park.

http://www.gulfstreampark.com/RACING/NEWS/Barn+Notes/Details/Sat+feb4.htm

Record 450 Early Triple Crown Nominations

With 2006 Eclipse Award and Breeders’ Cup winners Street Sense and Dreaming of Anna headlining the list, a record 450 horses have been nominated early to Thoroughbred racing’s 2007 Triple Crown.

http://news.bloodhorse.com/viewstory.asp?id=37402

1/22/07- DREAMING OF ANNA out of Mt. Brilliant broodmare Justenuffheart is named CHAMPION 2YO FILLY of 2007.

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Dreaming of Anna Wears 2YO Filly Crown
COURTESY OF THE BLOOD HORSE
Date Posted: January 22, 2007
Last Updated: January 23, 2007

Dreaming of Anna
Photo: Alexander Barkoff

From the time she was a foal, Dreaming of Anna had a confident demeanor and seemed sure she would make it to the top, according to farm manager Suzi Shoemaker of Lantern Hill Farm near Midway, Ky.

“She was very determined and gritty,” remembered Shoemaker, who raised the filly. “Her mother (Justenuffheart) is big and strong, and being a young mare and a good racemare, when they were turned out in the morning, she would just take off like a jet. A lot of foals in that situation become scared, stand still and whinny, or run in circles, but Dreaming of Anna would just pin her ears back and follow her mother as fast as she could. She was very strong and athletic.”

Campaigned as a homebred for Frank Calabrese, Dreaming of Anna quickly progressed from her childhood romps to professional performances on the racetrack, and stated her case for an Eclipse Award after going wire to wire in the 2006 Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Fillies (gr. I) at Churchill Downs in her fourth race in as many career starts.

Dreaming of Anna’s Eclipse victory was a runaway, as she received 265 of 270 first-place votes.
Calabrese, who has won numerous leading owner titles at Chicago-area racetracks, has everything from claimers to stakes horses in his 50-plus stable. Calabrese has raced black-type victors such as grade II winner Exclusive Praline and grade III winners Wasatch and Fight for Ally, and grade I winner Silver Maiden, whom he called one of his “greatest accomplishments in racing.”

Winning the Breeders’ Cup on Calabrese’s 78th birthday, Dreaming of Anna is named for her owner’s late sister, Anna Anderson, whose hair was the color of the filly’s chestnut coat. Calabrese owns the printing firm FCL Graphics in the Chicago community of Harwood Heights. He spent 14 years racing Standardbreds nationwide before starting with Thoroughbreds in the early 1990s.

Dreaming of Anna jump-started her career with an easy four-length victory in a maiden race at Arlington Park last May. The daughter of Rahy out of the stakes-winning Broad Brush mare Justenuffheart completed the 4 1/2 furlongs in near record time.

Taking a look at her grass-heavy pedigree after she broke her maiden, Dreaming of Anna’s connections, which include trainer Wayne Catalano and racing manager Steve Leving, subsequently decided to enter her in a turf contest. The filly proceeded to prove her versatility in winning the Tippett Stakes for 2-year-old fillies at Colonial Downs last July in course-record time of 1:01.63 for 5 1/2 furlongs.

When it came time for Dreaming of Anna’s next race, the Sept. 10 Arlington-Washington Breeders’ Cup Lassie Stakes (gr. III), the track came up sloppy and she was scratched. Her connections instead picked out the Summer Stakes (Can-IIIT) for 2-year-olds at Woodbine. Running against the boys, Dreaming of Anna recorded another easy victory in front-running fashion. Crossing the wire first by 3 1/4 lengths, she completed the one-turn mile in 1:35.03.

According to Leving, Dreaming of Anna was the only filly among 42 horses nominated to the Summer Stakes, which served as her final prep before facing other females in the 1116-mile Juvenile Fillies, her first start around two turns.

Catalano, a former jockey who won his first race at Churchill in 1974, became a trainer after his retirement in 1983 and has gone on to win multiple training titles at Arlington, Hawthorne Race Course, and Sportsman’s Park. His only other Breeders’ Cup starter was Tamweel, who finished fourth in the 2004 Distaff. Catalano used Keeneland’s new Polytrack surface to prepare Dreaming of Anna for her Juvenile Fillies date, where she was installed as the slight 5-2 favorite in a field of 14.

In her Breeders’ Cup debut, Dreaming of Anna became one of the four winners out of five main track starters to break from post one. In the irons was jockey Rene Douglas, who snapped an 0-for-10 Breeders’ Cup slump while getting his first win. Douglas also rode Dreaming of Anna to victory in the Summer Stakes in her previous start.

Kicking in late to pull away to a 112-length win over her closest competitor, Octave, Dreaming of Anna completed the race in 1:43.81 on a track labeled fast.

Calabrese also was represented by Dreaming of Anna’s then 3-year-old full brother, Lewis Michael, in the TVG Breeders’ Cup Sprint (gr. I). But he was unable to follow the spectacular performance his sister put on all the way to the winner’s circle. Bumped at the start, Lewis Michael tired to a disappointing 11th-place finish.

Both Calabrese and Catalano, who earned their first Eclipse Award with Dreaming of Anna, have declined numerous substantial offers for the filly since the Breeders’ Cup. Immediately following Dreaming of Anna’s win, there was talk among her connections of her possible future starts, including the Kentucky Oaks (gr. I), and even the Kentucky Derby (gr. I) for another chance against males.

An image of perfection in four starts last year, the question that remains for Dreaming of Anna is whether she can remain a model of consistency in 2007.

ARTICLE COURTESY OF THE TDN

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Asked just prior to the GI Breeders' Cup Juvenile Fillies about race tactics, Dreaming of Anna's trainer, Wayne Catalano, made no effort to hide the fact that the speedy two-year-old filly would indeed be sent to the front. Sure enough, the chestnut was gunned from post one, led every step way and charged home to her first Grade I win. Ultimately, the free-wheeling victory also meant that Dreaming of Anna would be in front when the Eclipse ballots were tallied, and last night her connections, the Chicago-based pair of Catalano and owner/breeder Frank Calabrese, were on hand at the 36th Annual Eclipse Awards to accept the award for champion two-year-old filly.

During his acceptance speech, Calabrese was generous in his praise of those who had helped Dreaming of Anna on her way to a championship season, making a special note to thank Catalano "He's done a great job training the filly,"he said. "She's really blossoming, and maybe she'll run against the boys in the [Kentucky] Derby--I hope." Added Catalano, "This filly's been the best thing that's happened to me. I appreciate the opportunity.
Now we've got to move forward and top it off."

A perfect four-for-four in 2006, Dreaming of Anna began her season with four-length tally sprinting at Arlington Park in May . Moved to the sod for her next, she won the Tippett S. at Colonial July 29 in course-record fashion, taking the 5 1/2-furlong event in 1:01 3/5. She was then kept on the grass for the GIII Summer S. at Woodbine Sept. 17, which she won in handy fashion facing males (video). The tepid 5-2 choice in the Juvenile Fillies, Dreaming of Anna gave Calabrese and Catalano their first Breeders' Cup winner under the Twin Spires of Churchill Downs Nov. 4, and has now become their first champion. Dreaming of Anna's 262 vote winning margin was the year's biggest.