By Erin Shea
After stumbling across Dream Police’s profile online, Sydney Gilmartin knew the Wildcat Heir gelding was the horse for her. The look and personality she could see from his photos through her screen were convincing enough that he would be a good fit.
Without telling her parents, she scheduled an appointment to go see him at TAA-accredited Win Place Home to make sure her intuition was correct. That visit sealed the deal, and in May of 2019 she signed the adoption papers.
“I really liked the look he had in all of his pictures,” Gilmartin said. “He looks kind of crazy in his eyes. Getting to know him better, I realized it wasn’t craziness, but determination that I could see. He’s a super hard-working horse who loves to please those who respect him. Watch out if you’re going to try and get pushy with him, he won’t tolerate any nonsense.”
Dream Police and Sydney Gilmartin
The Florida-bred retired from racing with a record of 3-3-6 in 27 starts. Carrying the colors of TAA board member Jeffrey Bloom’s Bloom Racing Stable, he earned $131,450 in five seasons on the West Coast. He retired through the California Management Retirement Account (CARMA) before heading to Win Place Home.
The chestnut gelding is out of the stakes-placed Star de Naskra mare Powerful Package and is a full sibling to graded stakes winner Derwin’s Star.
Now, Gilmartin is focusing Dream Police’s energy into becoming an eventer, a discipline she thinks will be well suited for his try-hard demeanor.
“He’s been in some ways the easiest green horse I’ve ever worked with, and in some ways, the hardest,” she said.
“He wants so badly to do the right thing that he can get frustrated if he doesn’t understand the task at hand. Once he’s done something the right way, though, he’ll never mess it up again. He can seem like an aggressive horse at times, but he’s actually just the type to run at life head first. Given the opportunity to impress, he’ll never fail. He doesn’t appreciate when people baby him and hates to be treated like ‘just another horse.’ He knows he’s special and won’t let anyone act like he’s less.”
Dream Police and Sydney Gilmartin jumping.
However, Gilmartin is happy to let Dream Police dictate their future as she focuses on enjoying her time with the horse that stole her heart.
“I would love to take him as high up the levels in eventing as he wants to go. It seems like he enjoys the variety the sport offers and he really likes to jump,” she said.
“However, if in a few years he decides to be a trail horse, I’m just as happy with that. I know that no matter what he does, he’ll do whatever it takes to be the best at it.”
