Charlene’s dream that lives up to her name * The Racing Biz

Charlene’s Dream has observed her name for owners Clifton Taylor and Isabel Domeyko, who deliver a series of top performances that now contains a victory in class 2 Beverly D. Stakes on Saturday in Colonial Downs.

The 4-year-old daughter of Qurbaan, bred in Texas, has been a bargain for the Domeyko Taylor LP Partnership, who bought her for $ 35,000 as a two-year-old on the 2023 phasig-tipton Midlantic sale in Timonium. Since then she has compiled an impressive record of six wins of 11 starts and wins of $ 642,634.

“This is the first horse that we were about 100% on,” said Clifton. “We have previously been partners on horses, but this is the first one I have chosen. She has now won five Stakes races. Ed really liked her. She was a big horse, and Ed is just a man who goes by feeling and his experience.”

That ‘Ed’ is trainer Ed Moger Jr., whose 50 years of experience and more than 2,000 career victories include victories of grade 1 with Stilleto Boy and Stormy Lucy. Before Charlene’s dream once set foot on the track, Moger saw a special potential.

“Before she ran the first time, I told people that she could be the best horse I have ever trained,” he said. “I trained for 50 years, and before she ran, it was what I thought.”

Charlene’s dream is probably not entirely there – there is a matter of winning a grade 1 event and the almost $ 1.6 million that Stilleto Boy has banned – but she certainly started well.

In the Beverly D. Charlene’s dream checked a moderate pace under Jockey Javier Castellano, returned a strong bid from the favorite bear, and came away to win with 1 ½ lengths in 1: 53.74 for 1 3/16 miles on firm grass. The victory marked her second Graded Stakes score of the year, which contributed to her victory in the grade 3 galorette in Pimlico in May.

“She can really end,” Taylor said. “Even in the races she has not held, she still fought every centimeter from the road. You just have to love a horse that wants to get their nose over the line.”

With 12 points in the direction of a possible berth for Breeders’ Cup, the team is considering their next step.

“Ed is in charge,” said Taylor. “He is a great communicator and finds good places for them. So hopefully … that’s the dream.”

From their base in Lake Tahoe, the owners dream of the biggest stage of the sport – and with Charlene’s dream that dream sees closer to reality.

“She can go quickly and she doesn’t get tired,” said Moger. “That is the way she is. She trains in the same way. She is collected, but at the same time she is strong and can continue.”