New Jersey Sire Stakes champ Smooth Dream goes for his seventh win in as many seasonal starts at The Big M.

by Debbie Little

Traditionally, winning three in a row at The Meadowlands is difficult, so the fact that Smooth Dream could notch his seventh straight mile-oval score on Saturday night (June 21) would be quite the accomplishment. Maybe even more so when you consider that the 3-year-old gelded son of Cattlewash—Dreamlands Latte only had three starts as a 2-year-old with no wins.

“We found out that he had an issue in his rear hind, so we had him x-rayed and MRIed, and we found a chip in his ankle,” said Smooth Dream’s co-owner Allen Kaplan. “So, we knew that he had talent and we said, ‘Okay, this is unfair to the horse, it’s unfair to everybody, let’s just stop with him,’ and we had the chip removed.

“He went through rehabilitation where we had the stall rest, and walking by hand, and actually, we swam him for a month or two. So, we went through a process with him.”

CTC Stable’s Kaplan shares ownership of Smooth Dream with partners KDP Stable LLC (Kal Liebowitz) and Bay Pond Racing Stable (Joe and Joann Thomson). The Thomsons’ Winbak Farm bred Smooth Dream.

The partners patience paid off when Smooth Dream, now in the barn of trainer Noel Daley, made a triumphant return to racing in a qualifier on April 14 at The Meadowlands, which he easily won in 1:53.3.

After winning his first pari-mutuel start of 2025 in a non-winners for 3-year-old colts and geldings, Smooth Dream rattled off five more victories, which included a division of the Home Grown, two legs and the final of the New Jersey Sire Stakes and a leg of the New Jersey Standardbred Development Fund on June 6.

Competing in races for New Jersey-breds was the plan in place when the partners procured Smooth Dream at the 2023 Lexington Selected Yearling Sale.

“Kal likes a game plan, he’s that type of person,” Kaplan said. “And our game plan was to get Cattlewashes to compete in the New Jersey Sire Stakes. We really liked Cattlewash. The 3-year-old Cattlewash was very good. I saw the speed that he had, and we just figured that he’s going to be a nice sire.

“So that’s how we ended up doing that a few years ago, and going to the sales and looking specifically for those, and again, he was a first-year sire when we did it, so, the prices were medium, reasonable, and Kal liked that game plan.”

Thomson was an unexpected addition.

“When we purchased him, Joe just happened to be standing there, and he said, ‘You know, you got a nice horse, I really like him.’ And we just said, ‘Hey, would you like a little piece?’ And he said, ‘Sure.’”

Although his partners do not live extremely close to The Meadowlands, Kaplan lives less than an hour away and can always be spotted with Smooth Dream in the winner’s circle.

“I like going to The Meadowlands,” Kaplan said. “You can go to Pink or Trotters, or sit wherever you like, and there’s the sportsbook. It’s very nice there, it really is, and it’s a nice place to take your family. And I’m just sorry that everybody gives Jeff Gural a hard time, because I know he’s trying to do the best for the industry. I give him a lot of credit, and I appreciate him, I really do.”

Although Smooth Dream has not had to face the likes of Louprint or Captain Optimistic yet this season, he has gone up against and beaten Making History, Manolete, and Twin Fury.

So, with all his success, why is Smooth Dream not competing against that upper echelon? Simple. He wasn’t staked.

“Is it unfortunate that we didn’t stake him? Yeah,” Kaplan said. “But, the thing is, at that point, when we had to do it, we didn’t know; he was just coming back from that injury from last year. And right now, he’s great, he’s 100 per cent sound. Noel’s doing a great job. We’re tickled to death.”

Daley said, “Staking is always a crap shoot, you know, that’s how it is. But you know, he’s come back good. He hasn’t had to race the open 3-year-olds, so you don’t know until he has to do that. Until they decide to supplement to something along the way there, we’ll take the money that he’s eligible for, which is just mainly the Jersey stuff at the moment.

“He’s been good against these horses, but, you know, the horses he’s been racing haven’t been Louprint and crew. He might be able to step it up, but he may not be able to. I’d definitely put him in [the Meadowlands Pace] if he was eligible to it, I’d take a shot with him.”

Kaplan said supplementing Smooth Dream to something down the road is not off the table.

“The good part is that Noel has had some very nice horses, so with his experience, he’s guiding us through this supplementing process, too, because we have a nice horse, we don’t want to hurt him,” Kaplan said. “He’s sound now, and with Noel’s guidance, hopefully, we’ll have a good year. And since he is a gelding, you know, he’s back next year, too.”

The plan is also in place for Kaplan and his partners to be at the sales again this year.

“We’ll probably look at some Jersey-breds, you know, the Perfect Stings for next year. I’m sorry that Cattlewash went to Canada, but we’ll look for Perfect Sting, because there’s actually a Perfect Sting [half-brother to Smooth Dream] that’s available for sale from Winbak this year.”

Kaplan said he feels privileged to have a horse like Smooth Dream, who is a half-brother to 2021 North America Cup champ, Desperate Man.

“I’ve been involved in harness racing for 35, 40 years, so, I’m very happy,” Kaplan said. “I couldn’t be happier. And I love coming to The Meadowlands, and that’s why I’m very happy with the sire stakes program.

“Between Twin Fury, Manolete, and Smooth Dream, it’s been a pretty exciting series, and I’m just happy that we’ve come out on top and, as I said, this is one of the best years that I’m having in 35 years.”