Owner Pays Emotional Tribute to Live In The Dream

Owner Steve De'Lemos has paid a tearful tribute to Nunthorpe Stakes (G1) winner Live In The Dream (IRE), who died this week. He and his wife Jolene were with the sprinter as his life ended at Donnington Grove Equine Vets Newbury, with no further treatment possible after nearly a year and a half blighted by injury. "Calling him the horse of a lifetime would be an understatement," De'Lemos said, choked with emotion. "We owed it to him to be there at the end. We gave him some carrots and a hug. "He had been convalescing with a good friend who would have him when he wasn't racing and where he had been the winter before he won the Nunthorpe and she said he was lame again. We sent him back to Donningtons, where Henry O'Neill and his staff have been fantastic. He went there on Tuesday. They did more scans and then Henry rang me and gave us the bad news; they couldn't do anything more for him. "We'd spent 17 months treating a bruised navicular first, followed by a number of operations to try to cure a cyst in his stifle joint. We did everything we could but we couldn't fix him." Live In The Dream, nicknamed Fred by the owners' autistic son Rhys, captured the public imagination with a 28-1 win in the Nunthorpe at York Racecourse in 2023, showing blistering speed to make all, beating previous winner Highfield Princess (FR) by a length and giving trainer Adam West, jockey Sean Kirrane, and the owners a first group 1 success. "York was incredible," said De'Lemos, who used to dream of owning horses when he grew up two minutes from Epsom Downs Racecourse. "I hear and see the race everyday and probably 20 times at a weekend because Rhys watches it on repeat. "I remember that day so vividly anyway and the likes of Brough Scott and Teddy Grimthorpe congratulating us— legends of the racing world in celebration with us all. "We thought it would be great if he could nick a place in the top six, although Jolene backed him at 100-1 to win by a length or more and I had a good bet on him, I thought he'd run well." Live In The Dream won six times in total and earned more than £530,000 in prize money. He was runner-up in the 2023 Palace House (G3) and 2024 Temple (G2) stakes and also finished fourth in the 2023 Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint (G1T). He was bought for £24,000 as a yearling, sought out as he was a half brother to the owners' six-time winner Live In The Moment (IRE). "I remember the day he came into our lives like it was yesterday," De'Lemos said. "He was tiny but that's why he was so electric from the gates. He was a freak and that's what won him the Nunthorpe. "Any time you buy a horse, you'd just love to win a race but when he won first time out we realized he was quite quick." De'Lemos has been an owner for more than 20 years and said of Live In The Dream: "What this horse did for my family and I was incredible. Calling him the horse of a lifetime would be an understatement. "You could buy a hundred horses and you wouldn't get close to him. He was just electric and he was fun to watch. We were very lucky. "Our daughter Aimee summed it up perfectly on Instagram: He touched our hearts in ways we never expected, taught us more than we could ever put into words and gave us experiences we will cherish forever."