First Stakes Winner for Grand Reve

Mark Smith - Sunday November 26

With just 15 live foals from the last five seasons at stud, the Canny Lad stallion Grande Reve is hardly the epitome of fashion.

But he had his moment in the sun on Saturday when represented by his first stakes-winner on Saturday, the 7yo gelding Grand Dreamer in the Listed Ballarat Cup (2200m).

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It looked like the end of the world was nigh at Ballarat with thunderstorms and lightning, but few were happier with the weather than Grand Dreamer's trainer Robert Smerdon.

''I looked at the forecast a week ago and they said showers on Friday and Saturday and I thought, ''well, if it's going to rain anywhere it'll rain in Ballarat'," Smerdon told Racing.com.

''But still, it was a big ask. I didn't know if he was good enough to win a Ballarat Cup.

''We came with a pre-race plan just to ride him conservatively,'' he explained. ''You can't use him in this ground. It's going to be more testing that it would have been.

''He's got terrific wet track form but we've rarely been able to get him on a soft track – the Victorian tracks seem to drain so well.

''The weather today brought him into the race and we rode him in that conservative fashion and it came off.

Missing a place in just one of his 14 starts on wet tracks, Grand Dreamer came from back in the field to defeat the Mick Kent-trained Oncidium Ruler (Strategic) by one and three-quarter lengths with the $3.60 favourite Grey Lion (IRE) (Galileo) a long-neck back in third. (photo Darryl Sherer )

The 7yo gelding advances his overall record to 9 10 6 39 starts with earnings of $435,000.

Grand Dreamer comes from the second crop of 14 live foals by his sire, which also happens to be his largest.

A son of Canny Lad, Grand Reve numbered the Listed Chief De Beers Quality among his six wins but he also played second fiddle to the outstanding Gold Edition in the BTC Classic, Magic Millions 3YO Trophy and Gold Coast Guineas.

Grand Dreamer is the first foal of the Testa Rossa mare Dream Lady.

A winner at Wagga from 22 starts, Dream Lady has an unnamed 3yo filly by Gonski and was covered in 2015 by Manner Hill.

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