Celestine's First Winner Comes on the Dirt for Clement

This column highlights the performances of 2- and 3-year-old maidens who have made no more than five starts and who either sold for more than $500,000 at public auction, have siblings that are graded/group winners, or have dams that are graded/group winners. BloodHorse research shows maiden winners, in particular, who meet these criteria are more likely to go on to be graded stakes winners.

Monmouth Park

Among the highlights on a memorable Haskell day at Monmouth Park July 19 was Silent Dreamer 's dominating maiden-breaking victory earlier on the card for Molyglare Stud Farm. 

A 3-year-old daughter of Into Mischief  , Silent Dreamer was dismissed at 7-1 odds in her dirt debut in the six-furlong maiden special weight—for good reason. The Miguel Clement trainee is the second foal out of the millionaire race mare Celestine, a grade 1 winner on the turf. In her only two tries on the dirt, Celestine finished off the board before finding resounding success on the lawn. 

Defying her pedigree odds, Silent Dreamer skipped over the Monmouth oval and showed the way brazenly under jockey Luis Saez. Outfitted with blinkers for the first time, Silent Dreamer widened her advantage by two lengths at the half-mile, ending the contest then and there. Nudged along around the final turn, the filly doubled her lead into the lane and continued to pour on to the wire without a rival in sight. 

Silent Dreamer, 6 1/4 lengths the best at the finish, stopped the clock in 1:10.70 on a fast main track. 

Celestine was one of five North American grade 1-winning fillies for the late stallion Scat Daddy. James Bryan Jr. initially purchased the filly for $100,000 as a yearling at the 2013 Keeneland September Sale under the moniker Phaedrus Flights. When Celestine failed to bring her reserve of $975,000 at the 2014 OBS June Sale, Bryan sent her to trainer William Kaplan. Less than a year later, Celestine earned her first black-type score in Sanibel Island Stakes at Gulfstream Park. Eventually, she joined the barn of Bill Mott as a 4-year-old, landing her greatest victory in the 2016 Just a Game Stakes (G1T) on the Belmont Stakes undercard. 

Silent Dreamer's breeder, the Irish-based Molyglare Stud Farm, acquired Celestine for $2.55 million at the 2016 Keeneland November Sale. Celestine returned as a 5-year-old, this time under the care of Christophe Clement, and won two more stakes events before retiring. Silent Dreamer is the mare's first winner.