(Dave Landry photos)
Ontario-based trainer Jack Darling was just starting to transition into the yearling game when on Sept. 28, 1995 he a plucked a colt from the 1995 Tattersalls Yearling Sale in Lexington, KY sale for $27,000 (U.S.). That horse, a son of Jate Lobell out of Perfidia named Gothic Dream, would go on to be the horse that changed Darling’s life.
“He came along at a time in my career when I was just making the switch from racehorses and claimers to starting to buy yearlings. I bought fillies for a couple of years and had some success with them. I had some stakes fillies, but I think Gothic Dream was the first colt that I bought,” said Darling, a native of Exeter, ON that was based in Windsor early in his career and now calls Cambridge, ON home.
At two, Gothic Dream and driver John Campbell won the $700,000 Metro Pace at Mohawk.
"Whe won the Metro, especially, that was the big one. That was his fourth lifetime start. I think they were going for $700,000. That was major money," said Darling, who owned Gothic Dream with Dan Smith of London, ON.
A year later, Campbell, Darling and Gothic Dream teamed up again to win the $1 million North America Cup at Woodbin in a career-best 1:50.4.
“That was huge,” Darling said of the NA Cup victory. “Then we sold him for big money and it just set me up for staying in the yearling business for awhile. From then on, going to yearling sales, I could just buy a little better quality of yearling. So, that always helps.”
Gothic Dream earned just over $1.5 million lifetime in 35 career starts at two and three. More importantly, he pushed Jack Darling into the upper echelons of the sport.
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