Dream Journey

Dream Journey's dam, Oriental Art (sired by Mejiro McQueen) won three races, mostly in dirt races, out of 23 career runs.[2] Dream Journey's sire, Stay Gold (sired by Sunday Silence) won 7 races in his 50-race career, including the Hong Kong Vase. Stay Gold started his stud career in 2003, and thus was among the second crop.[3]

The horse's name is lifted from his sire's Hong Kong name, 黄金旅程, which can be translated literally to "Golden Journey".[4]

Dream Journey made his debut and first victory on a maiden race at the Niigata Racecourse with Masayoshi Ebina as his jockey,[5] and also won the next race, the Fuyou Stakes.[6] Dream Journey made his Group race debut at that year's Tokyo Sports Hai Nisai Stakes, but came in third behind Fusaichi Ho O after lagging behind in the race.[7] At the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes he once again went out of the gate late, but passed the other horses on the final stretch, clinching his first group race victory.[8][9][10] At 416 kg, Dream Journey was the lightest horse to have ever won this race. He had a small build and sharp legs that he made great use on the final stretch, and covered the last three furlongs the fastest of all horses in all four races that he ran that season.

His victory at the Asahi Hai Futurity Stakes earned him the 2006 JRA Award for the Best Two-Year Old Colt.[11]

Dream Journey started the season with the Yayoi Sho, where he was the 2nd most favored after Shinzan Kinen winner Admire Aura. He ran most of the race among the pack, and attempted to take the lead on the final stretch, but finished 3rd in part due to being blocked by other horses.[12] At the Satsuki Sho, he finished 8th behind Victory,[13] and later at the 74th Japanese Derby he finished 5th behind Vodka despite showing sharp legs on the final stretch.[14][15]

After taking the Summer off, Dream Journey's first race in Autumn would be the Kobe Shimbun Hai, where for the first time his jockey became Yutaka Take, who had ridden his sire Stay Gold as well as his damsire Mejiro McQueen before. At the race, the horse placed itself in the rear and passed the other horses on the final stretch, winning his second group race.[16] Dream Journey would then compete in the 68th Kikka Sho, where the horse was the second-most favored. Dream Journey would start pushing up from around the 3rd corner after placing itself in the furthest back of the pack, but was unable to catch up with the horses in front of him, and finished 5th behind Asakusa Kings.[17][18]

It was originally planned that Dream Journey would then enter either the Hong Kong Vase or the Hong Kong Cup,[19][20] but the plans were quickly dropped as the quarantine would have taken a month due to the ongoing Equine Influenza.

Dream Journey was briefly put out to pasture at the Greenwood Training before returning to his stable to run in the Naruo Kinen. He was the most favored for the first time in his career, but finished at 8th place.[21] Dream Journey would return to Greenwood via Shimagami Farm for the remainder of the year.

Dream Journey returned to his stable at the Ritto Training Center on April 4, and started his season at the Yomiuri Milers Cup. However, he came out of the gate late, and finished at 14th place.[22] His next race, the Yasuda Kinen, saw Kenichi Ikezoe be the horse's jockey for the first time, but finished at 10th place.[23]

The next race, the Kokura Kinen on August 3, was originally planned with Take returning as his jockey, but as he was suspended for an unrelated incident, Ikezoe continued to ride the horse for that race. Dream Journey won its first race since the Kobe Shimbun Hai after catching up to Daishin Grow who had emerged from the pack before Dream Journey.[24]

Dream Journey went on to compete in the Asahi Challenge Cup where he would win with a 3/4-length against Toho Alan.[25] Dream Journey did not win any more races that season, with the horse finishing in 10th place at the Tenno Sho (Autumn) and the Arima Kinen at 4th.[26][27]

Dream Journey winning the 50th Takarazuka Kinen

Dream Journey started his five-year old season with the American Jockey Club Cup on January 25, where he was the most favored but finished at 8th place.[28] At the Nakayama Kinenthe horse came in 2nd place behind Company in spite its best efforts to catch up to the leading horse.[29] Later, at the Sankei Ōsaka Hai he was the 3rd most favored, and after taking the lead on the last two furlongs, the most-favored Deep Sky tried to pass him, but managed to keep the lead, marking his 5th group race win.[30]

It was originally planned for Dream Journey to compete in the Takarazuka Kinen as its main goal after running in the Kinko Sho,[31] but as his conditions were very well it was decided to enter the horse to Tenno Sho (Spring) instead. This made him his first long-distance race since the Kikka Sho, but as the horses that ran in front initially couldn't keep up their speed, Dream Journey was able to come in from the outside and managed to come in 3rd place.[32]

At Takarazuka, Deep Sky was by far the most favored of that race, and Dream Journey entered the race as the second most favored. Dream Journey stayed in the pack during the early stage of the race as Cosmo Bulk took the lead by a wide margin, with the horse taking the lead on the final stretch and not letting Deep Sky and Sakura Mega Wonder overtake the horse, marking the first GI win in 2+1⁄2 years.[33]

After a break, Dream Journey was the most favored horse of the Sankei Sho All Comers, but was unable to catch up to Matsurida Gogh, who won that race whereas Dream Journey came in 2nd place.[34]

At Tenno Sho (Autumn), Dream Journey entered the race as the 4th most favored behind Vodka, Shingen, and Oken Bruce Lee. The horse raced from behind the pack but came in 6th place behind Company.[35]

On December 27, Dream Journey ran in the 54th Arima Kinen. As the race started in a high pace with the first 900 meters being covered in just 52.2 seconds, Dream Journey slowly pushed up from the rear, and passed Buena Vista on the final stretch and passing the finishing line,[36][37] winning the very race that both Stay Gold and Mejiro McQueen could not.[38]

Dream Journey became the 6th horse since 1984 to win both so-called Grand Prixs (Takarazuka and Arima) after Inari One (1989), Mejiro Palmer (1992), Grass Wonder (1999), T M Opera O (2000) and Deep Impact (2006).[39] Dream Journey's weight at the time of the race, 426 kg, was smaller than Deep Impact's weight of 438 kg from 2006, making it the lightest winner of Arima since 1984. Yasuo Ikee, father of Yasutoshi who was Dream Journey's trainer, also trained Deep Impact, also making this the first time ever for the Grand Prixs to be won by both father and son.

Dream Journey's victories at both Takarazuka and Arima won the horse that year's JRA Award for Best Older Male Horse.[40][41][42]

Dream Journey started the season with the Kyoto Kinen, where the horse came in 3rd behind Buena Vista.[43] The horse then went on to compete in the Osaka Hai as the most favored, but came in 3rd place behind T M Encore.[44]

Dream Journey was scheduled to run in the Tenno Sho (Spring), but plans were dropped on April 24 after it was discovered that there was a minor swelling on the fetlock of the right forearm. The horse was later entered in to the Takarazuka Kinen in hopes of repeating the victory from the year before. He was the fourth most favored, and tried to pass the other horses from the rear on the final stretch, but wound up coming in fourth place behind Nakayama Festa.[45]

Dream Journey would go on to run in the All Comers on September 26, where he could not catch up to Shingen, who won that race.[46] After not running in the Tenno Sho (Fall) due to problems with the hinds,[47] the horse ran in that year's Arima Kinen but finished in 13th place.[48]

Dream Journey started the season off with the Osaka Sho, but finished 9th.[49] Later, Dream Journey would once again run in Takarazuka, only to lose at 10th place.[50] After the race, Ikee told reporters that the horse "lost its fighting spirit" and announced his intentions to retire the horse,[51] and the horse's registration with the JRA was withdrawn as of June 30.[52] A retirement ceremony was held on September 19 at the Sapporo Racecourse.[53]

c = colt, f = filly, g = gelding