People and Their Animals Sports
Basketball · Sombor, Serbia
Nikola Jokić and His Horses
Nikola Jokić discovered horse racing as a kid in Serbia. Basketball eventually took him halfway around the world, but he never gave up on his beloved horses.
Nikola Jokić grew up in Sombor in the ’90s, a small city in northern Serbia where harness racing was part of local life. As a kid, he went to the racetrack one day and was immediately hooked. He loved the horses, but also the feeling of a race: the sound of the hooves, the shaking ground and another horse coming up alongside you. For a while, his father worried that horses might win out over basketball.
- Person
- Nikola Jokić
- Animals
- Harness racehorses at Dream Catcher stable
- Place
- Sombor, Serbia
- Stable
- Dream Catcher, named after his first horse
- Known for
- MVP trophies at the stable, and still cleaning stalls
His first horse was Dream Catcher
After Jokić made it to the NBA, he bought his first racehorse. His name was Dream Catcher. The horse eventually gave his name to Jokić’s entire racing operation, and Dream Catcher remains the name on the stable in Sombor today.
Over the years, one horse became several, and Jokić became increasingly involved in harness racing. When he’s back in Serbia, he doesn’t just turn up to watch them compete. He trains them, drives the sulky, cleans stalls, moves hay and works on the track.
Winning an MVP didn’t get him out of stable duty
In 2021, Jokić won his first NBA Most Valuable Player award. After that, he flew home.
People around the stable still remember what happened next: after landing in Belgrade and driving about two and a half hours to Sombor, Jokić went straight to the track and started shoveling manure.
A year later, when the NBA wanted to surprise him with another MVP trophy, they knew where to find him. Jokić arrived at his stable in a sulky behind one of his horses. His Denver Nuggets teammates and coaches were waiting there with the award.
His horses follow him back to Denver
Jokić spends most of the NBA season thousands of miles away from Sombor, but the horses still make it to work with him. Photos of them hang around his locker in Denver, along with ribbons they’ve won in races.
He follows harness racing every day and keeps up with horses and friends competing around the world.
After the Denver Nuggets won the 2023 NBA championship, Jokić famously seemed more concerned about getting home in time for the next race in Sombor than extending the celebrations. Glad he made it.
He takes care of them after racing, too
The relationship doesn’t necessarily end when one of his horses can no longer compete. Jokić finds new homes for retired horses, helps pay for their care and calls their new owners to check on how they’re doing.
And when his horses are still racing, he doesn’t hide what a win means to him. In 2025, his horse Demon Dell’Est won a major race in Serbia. Jokić ran onto the track, hugged the horse and driver, and cried. It was more emotion than he’d shown after winning an NBA championship.
Jokić’s godfather and conditioning coach, Nebojša Vagić, says the stable is where he’s happiest. Basketball may have made Nikola Jokić famous around the world. But back in Sombor, there are still stalls to clean.
Around the track
Away from Denver, Jokić is often easiest to find at the harness track in Serbia.
Left: Photo via ESPN (Getty Images). Centre: Photo via NBA.com / The Athletic (Getty Images). Right: Photo via The Srpska Times / Telegraf.
