Jill’s One Dream

The recent wins by Eun Sogno and Captain Cool, both sons of Captain Crunch, rekindle memories of One Dream who was a star filly in her era.

Eun Sogno the last foal out of One Dream, was brave in winning his maiden at Addington. And Captain Cool who’s out of Dreaminthemaking, an unraced Christian Cullen mare out of One Dream was equally as game in winning his maiden at the Kurow meeting.

When it comes to One Dream it was a matter of Jill Smolenski being at the right place at the right time.

“I was working at Wai Eyre as Stud Master. Freeman Holmes had his wee mare Nardia there. She had a Soky’s Atom foal whose face was all deformed. It only had one nostril, and it was all twisted in the nose. He told me to get rid of it. Me being me, I told him that it was standing up and trying to drink and had the will to live. He had a think about it and rang me a couple of hours later and told me I could have it if I wanted it.”

Named Solitaire, the young filly now belonged to Jill.

“John Shaw the vet operated on the foal twice, pulling the nose over making a nostril. So she had a bit of plastic surgery. She was fine and broke in nice. She was going to be something, but she did a suspensory, so we just bred from her. At that stage Dennis (her husband) and I were managing Woodlands Stud who stood Dream Away and we just loved him. He had tenacity and speed. Solitaire had great speed too and we got exactly what we bred for.”

Raced by Jill and trained by Dave and Clare McGowan, One Dream in twenty three starts was never out of the money and won eighteen races with earnings of $899,487.

“She just had an amazing turn of foot on the turns and could skip away from the field,” Jill said.

After winning on debut as a two year old, Smolenski was offered $200,000 for the young filly.

“It was a huge decision for us. She failed the vet check but they still kept the offer in. But I decided to keep her.”

One Dream went on to win seven Group One races including the Nevele R Fillies Series and New Zealand Oaks double. Her other Group One wins were in the Sires’ Stakes Fillies Classic, Caduceus Club Fillies Classic and Queen Of Hearts. She also won the Group One Breeders Crown and Australian Oaks.

In the New Zealand Oaks, One Dream in the hands of Frank Cooney sat parked for a short time before taking up the pacemaker’s role, winning by a length and a quarter from Running On Faith.

“Everyone wants to win a New Zealand Oaks. She wasn’t right on that day which we didn’t know at the time. It was a real tough effort and a huge thrill.”

Another strong memory was One Dream’s run in the Breeders Crown Two Year Old Semi Final at Ballarat.

“She broke at the start. I thought oh my god. We’ve come all this way. I couldn’t even watch the race I was that nervous. We took some friends with us and they started screaming ‘watch it watch it she’s going to win’. I looked up as she crossed the line. One of the pins (hopple shorteners) hadn’t come out so that’s why she galloped at the start. I had to go home and watch the race on DVD (laughter).”

The only race Jill and Dennis weren’t present for was when she raced in a heat of the Breeders Crown at Kilmore.

“We had a ball racing her. We felt very lucky. You wish everyone could experience that. She was the type of horse you dream of having.”

After her short racing career One Dream was sent to stud and has left twelve foals, seven of which have been winners. The best have been Sole Ambition, Montana D J, Hopes And Dreams and Luminesce.

Friday night’s winner Eun Sogno was her last foal.

“She ruptured having him. She’s okay but she can’t have any more foals. He was a lovely colt to handle. I had another one Captain DJ (renamed Montana DJ), and he was the same. He wasn’t colty, was a quick learner and really well matured.”

Captain DJ was sold for $175,000 at the 2020 NZB Standardbred Sales in Christchurch.

“That was amazing. I nearly fainted in the ring. That was a huge moment and I’d never sold anything for that much money. He was named after Dennis and was called Captain DJ. They said they wouldn’t change the DJ bit, they’d just put Montana in front so that was nice of them to do that.”

Jill hasn’t bred at all since One Dream produced Eun Sogno but is thinking about breeding again this spring from a Captaintreacherous daughter of One Dream named Smart N Sassy.

“I planned to race her as a two year old. She’s a beautiful filly and beautiful pacer but unfortunately as a two year old she fractured her hind pastern. She got over that I put her back in work as a three year old (at Stonewall) and she did it again just before I went away (overseas). She’s now done both hind legs.”

Smolenski is also considering breeding from Dreaminthemaking.

“I’ve had a few years off so it might be time to breed a couple.”

Jill has spent all her life in harness racing.

Growing up in Southland she worked for Ross Dynes at Ryal Park Stud and also Hamish Hunter. As a junior driver she reined one winner – Ryal Avenger at Ascot Park in January 1989.

While in the south Jill was awarded a scholarship to got to Marcus Oldem College, a tertiary institute specialising in Equine Business Management in Geelong Australia.

After moving to Canterbury she worked for Steve Little, Max Bowden, Wai Eyre Farm and Studholme Park.

Jill met her future husband Dennis Smolenski when she was working for Max Bowden.

“From there we went up to the North Island and worked for Woodlands Stud and helped set up Stonewall Stud. Dennis and I did that. We were up there for about ten years.”

When she returned to Canterbury Jill took up a role as Stud Master at Nevele R Stud, a position she held for seven years.

After returning home to Christchurch sadly Dennis was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer.

“He had a massive tumour on his rib cage. They took out his rib cage and replaced it with a titanium one which they made on a 3D computer. He was the first one to get one in New Zealand. Unfortunately six months later another tumour had started growing in his upper chest throat area. It was too aggressive and they couldn’t do anything.”

Dennis passed away on the 14^th October 2018.

“We were just the best of friends. We did everything together. It was a pretty tough time.”

Jill is proud of the seventeen acre property the couple developed on Alston Road in Weedons.

“It was all set up for training and I wasn’t training. It was hard to leave because Dennis and I set it all up and had it just how we wanted it. It got to a stage where it was getting too much for me to look after.”

She has since moved across the road to a ten acre property which is close to Stonewall Stud’s South Island establishment.

“I’ve been able to set it up the way I want it. I’ve set up the paddocks and got a couple of boxes. Stonewall Stud is pretty much a paddock away.”

Jill says she pretty much a homebody these days, but recently treated herself with a six week holiday in Europe.

“We finished up in Croatia which was amazing but it was getting too hot at that stage. The temperature was getting up to the high thirties and forties. It was a little bit too much for us kiwis.”

Now back home she’s looking forward to getting back into a regular routine and riding her Appaloosa Quarter horse which she hacks regularly.

“Im really enjoying that. Just going out and hacking, doing treks. It gets me off the farm and I can really relax.”

Jill also runs a dog grooming business.

“I get to do the dogs during the day and come home and ride. I feel I’m getting into a really good space now and that’s why I could go on holiday this year.”

by Bruce Stewart, for Harnesslink