by Kimberly Rinker, for the Breeders Crown

Cranbury, NJ — Clara Molski is waiting nervously — waiting like an anxious parent whose child is ready to step onto the stage in their first school play.

However, it won’t be a child — but a horse — that will have all of Clara’s attention Friday night in East Rutherford, N.J.

The enthusiastic owner-operator of Dreamland Farms in Cream Ridge, N.J. will travel to The Meadowlands to watch her homebred filly, Dreamlands Latte, vie for a berth in the final of the $650,000 Breeders Crown 2-Year-Old Filly Pace.

The freshman daughter of Artsplace has been assigned the outside slot in the field of nine for this weekend’s elim and will be racing on the bleeder medication Lasix for the first time in her brief career.

“I’m a happy-nervous right now,” Clara, 52, said. “We feel so privileged and honored to be in a Breeders Crown event. It’s another dream come true for us.”

Clara, along with her husband David, built Dreamlands Farm shortly after they began their foray into the harness racing business back in 1992. The 105-acre facility includes a half-mile training track, a knee-high exercise pool, and an equisizor.

“We were both very involved in the farm,” Clara remembered. “David was a very active owner — he didn’t just pay the bills, he had dialogue daily with our trainers, the vets and everyone involved with the horses.”

Tragically, David was killed in a fatal car accident this past July. Despite losing her husband and best friend, Clara has forged ahead.

“David worked so hard at raising these babies,” Clara recalled. “The night before he died we watched one of our horses — Dreamlands Broadway — win a race at The Meadowlands. I told him that night that he had really done a good job and that he should be proud of himself; it was one of the last things I ever said to him.”

Presiding over the farm, the racehorses and the babies — as well as a display sign company in Elizabeth, N.J. — is what keeps Clara busy these days.

“There’s so much to this horse business that I know now that I didn’t know when we first got involved,” Clara said. “We had friends that were in the business in the early 1990s and they encouraged us to buy a piece of a horse. David said at the time that we’d never make any money with these horses. Well, the first horse we bought part of was Yankee Dreamboat — who ended up winning the Goldsmith Maid for us. That was it, we were hooked.”

One of the couple’s first broodmares was a Big Towner mare, Breeders Crown champion Hardie Hanover, whom the Molskis bought at the Standardbred Horse Sale at Harrisburg. That mare’s second foal was christened Dreamlands Hardie p,3,1:54.3 ($29,579), a daughter of Jenna’s Beach Boy.

“We raced Dreamlands Hardie, but she got hurt, so we retired her early and made her a broodmare,” Clara remembered. “Dreamlands Latte is her third foal.”

Dreamlands Latte is a full sister to Kisskissbangbang p,3,1:57f ($145,693) and a half sister to Livestrong (by Artiscape) p,3,1:50.4 ($385,251).

Clara names all of the Dreamland foals, and this season’s 2-year-olds are no exception.

“I saw these babies standing in the field, and I just loved her coloring and she reminded me of a latte,” Clara laughed. “We also have a 2-year-old trotting gelding that I named Dreamlands Expresso for that same reason. I try to have themes with my names. Last year it was baseball, this year it’s coffee.”

Trainer Bob Baggitt broke Dreamlands Latte, and conditioned her to win three legs and the $85,000 final of her New Jersey Sires Stakes division at Freehold.

“It was so exciting,” Clara said. “I’m sure the people in the winner’s circle got sick of me because she won every week there at Freehold for four weeks. I would be there yelling for her, ‘come on Latte, come on!’ It was just so great to see her win — it’s not the money as much as just the achievement by the horse.”

After her Sires Stakes triumphs, Dreamlands Latte was given a month off, and then partnered with trainer Peter Fusco, giving impressive performances with fourth and third-place finishes in her Lou Babic elimination and the $80,000 final.

“Bobby (Baggitt) had told me this filly was all class and did things right, and he wasn’t kidding,” Peter noted. “She’s definitely an overachiever. She loves to race and is always looking to get past horses. She bled in the Babic final and we weren’t able to get her on Lasix before the New Jersey Futurity (on Oct. 26).”

Dreamlands Latte finished a strong second in the $37,500 Futurity, clocked in 1:55.2 with Daniel Dube at the lines.

“We gave her a little time off and then qualified her (on Nov. 9) at Gaitway,” Peter added. “She qualified great in 1:56.3, coming a last quarter in :27 flat. We don’t know, maybe she was bleeding long before she showed she was. She wants to do it, she wants to race. Since treating her for bleeding, she’s really come around, and her coat looks a lot better.”

Dreamlands Latte comes into her Breeders Crown elim with $116,812 in earnings from five wins, a pair of seconds and one third in nine career starts.

“I’m not worried about the nine hole,” Peter added. “That’s just a starting spot — it’s not the race. This horse is Clara’s life — I’m confident ‘Latte’ will put in a good performance for her.”

“Latte has been a sweetheart since day one,” Clara said. “She’s always been easy to handle and work with, and she’s obviously very smart. We handle our babies a lot — they’ve learned to trust people and do things willingly by the time they’re ready to be trained down. I believe we give our youngsters very solid, good foundations — they’ve got everything they need here at our farm — good grass, and solid handling.”

Dreamlands Latte will be Clara’s second Breeders Crown elimination starter. She and David had the mare Gabrielle p,4,1:51 ($139,376) in the 1996 Breeders Crown 3-Year-Old Filly Pace. Unfortunately, she was in against She’s A Great Lady, and failed to hit the board.

“Gabrielle did well for us,” Clara recalled. “She was later bought by Fair Winds Farm for breeding purposes.”

Gabrielle became a successful broodmare, and is the dam of Won The West p,3,1:49.1 ($602,974), who supplemented to this year’s Breeders Crown 3-Year-Old Colt Pace.

“The horses are what keep me going,” Clara added. “With five dogs, four cats, 30 horses and an outside business to run, I stay busy, but ultimately, it’s my animals that make the difference.”