Magic Dream
This article was originally printed in the August, 2008 issue of the Canadian Arabian Horse News.
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- Magic Dream CAHR. Photo: Stuart Vesty
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- Magic Dream CAHR Pedigree
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- Magic Dream CAHR at 4 months old. Photo: JoAnne Campone.
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- Magic Dream CAHR at 4 months old. Photo: JoAnne Campone.
Magic Dream CAHR. Photo: Stuart Vesty
Of all of the stallions bred on Canadian soil, Magic Dream has to be one of the most influential sires our country has ever produced. A U.S. and Canadian National Top Ten, Scottsdale Champion and sire & grandsire of numerous National and Scottsdale Champions, Magic Dream has left his mark in the history books. In 2008, he topped the CAHR’s list of Canadian stallions with the most registered progeny, eclipsing the immortal Dalul. His foals have gone on to fantastic success in the show ring and their importance is well recognized in breeding programs around the world. Bred by Jo-Anne Campone, a small breeder from British Columbia, Magic Dream was the product of an extremely exacting selection process. It was Jo-Anne’s unwillingness to settle for anything other than her ideal that led to his creation. That, and the good fortune of having a great mare.
Jo-Anne’s love of the Arabian developed as a young girl, in the pages of King of the Wind & The Black Stallion. It was a love she never outgrew. In 1983, she would take the first step towards her lifelong dream with the purchase of the purebred mare Myrilinan Acledo. A beautiful Gai-Adventure daughter, she had the classic Gainey type with enormous black eyes and the sweetest disposition. More importantly, she had just been bred to Aristo Kossak. “After seeing several of Kossak’s foals, I was very impressed with the consistency he put on all of them,” states Jo-Anne. This, paired with the fact that Aristo Kossak had been a Canadian Reserve National Champion Futurity Stallion and U.S. National Top Ten Informal Combination, appealed to Jo-Anne and convinced her he was a worthy choice as a stallion.
On July 14, 1984, The Dreamspinner was born. “I can’t begin to explain what she has meant to me both as a broodmare and a friend,” says Jo-Anne. ‘Sarah’ was shown as a two- and three-year-old by Brenda Driediger, winning numerous championships and a Regional Top Five. The following year, Jo-Anne saw and fell in love with a young stallion named Ali Jamaal. He was the epitome of type and had just been named 1985 U.S. National Champion Futurity Stallion. She decided he would be the perfect match for her mare, but before Sarah was old enough to breed, Ali Jamaal was sold to Brazil. “I continued to search for an alternative stallion, but none seemed to excite me as much as Jamaal,” Jo-Anne explained.
In 1989, news hit that Ali Jamaal was returning to the U.S. to be shown. Not willing to let this golden op- portunity pass her by, Jo-Anne made sure she booked a breeding and was rewarded the following spring with a filly, Dream Fantasy. “It was probably the only time I had actually hoped for a colt,” she admits. Fantasy went on to become a Canadian Breeders Reserve Champion mare and winner in Hunter Pleasure.
After a short time back in Brazil, Ali Jamaal returned the next year to capture the U.S. National Championship. The Dreamspinner was bred once more and on June 8, 1992 the colt Jo-Anne had originally hoped for was born. From the moment he was born she knew he was ‘magic’. “His enormous eyes and those tippy ears, his overall presence made me think he was special,” Jo-Anne beams. She was certainly not alone in her opinion of the youngster. His first mare was booked to him at 3 days old – the result of that breeding was GF Forever Magic+, a multi-Champion regional stallion. A repeat breeding produced GF Simply Magic, also a Regional Champion and the dam of RD Fabreanna (x Falcon BHF), who was bred by Murray and Shirley Popplewell of RaeDawn Arabians. RD Fabreanna was the first Canadian-bred filly to be named 2007 U.S. National Champion Yearling Filly.
Greg Knowles came out to see the dark bay colt when he was five months old and saw the potential that Magic Dream had. He tried to convince Jo-Anne to sell, but she wouldn’t hear of it. Finally, when Magic was in his two-year-old year, Jo-Anne agreed to syndicate him and the Magic Partnership was formed.
By the time Magic Dream was three, his first crop of ten foals had arrived.
“We were all thrilled at how prepotent he was,” says Jo-Anne. Whether the foal was out of a Spanish, Polish, Egyptian or domestic-bred mare, the foals all had the “magic” look. Five of these foals made the trip to Scottsdale as yearlings and in huge classes (this being before halter classes were divided into age groups), both colts and all three fillies made their qualifying cuts. Of those, all but one of the fillies ended up in the Top 10. It was a real boon for Knowles’ Arabian Expressions – from that moment, Magic Dream’s breeding career took off. As Knowles says on his website, “We turned around after the morning session and there were a hundred people there, waiting to buy breedings. As they say, the rest is history.”
In 1995 Magic Dream was shown to Canadian National Top Ten Futurity Stallion (3rd overall) and US National Top Ten Futurity Stallion (4th) by Greg Gallun. For Jo-Anne, this was the fulfillment of one of her ultimate goals. “One of my dreams had been to breed a Top Ten futurity colt and I had always hoped Magic would be the one,” she says.
The Dreamspinner is now 24 years old and is a constant joy for Jo-Anne. She is an Aristocrat mare, having produced six champions, with four of them winning National halter titles and most of them with wins in performance. Another of her famous sons, EF Kingston (x Padrons Psyche), owned by Jo-Anne’s dear friend Kristi Hopp, completed his first 50-mile endurance ride just two weeks after being named Canadian National Reserve Champion Stallion AOTR. When Kristi bred her Magic Dream granddaughter Angelina DPA (EA Echstravagant x AE Faith) to EF Kingston, it resulted in Vegas DPA, the current Ohio Buckeye Jr. Champion Colt and Region 14 Champion Colt.
As for Magic Dream, his popularity has grown around the world, with offspring being sold to England, Austria, Italy, South Africa, South America and the Middle East. “I could never have imagined how successful Magic has become as a sire, siring close to 400 foals to date. His daughters, in turn, have become exceptional broodmares and are sought after worldwide,” says Jo-Anne.
He was indeed sought after world-wide – in May 2008, the magic went international, with Magic Dream’s sale to Tinus and Francis Strydom of Strydom Stud in South Africa.
The magic continues…
